Unusual Testing
by AmorousXenomorph
Summary: A story following the relationship between a scientist and his Xenomorph research subject. Set 25 years before the events in The Hive. Rated M for violence, language and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

Hello there reading audience. I know it's been a little while since I've uploaded something, but engineering isn't a program that leaves a lot of room for writing. Now that I have time on my hands again I'm back with a vengeance!

Be warned this story is rated M for mature content involving language, violence and sex involving Xenomorphs and humans, so if you aren't into that DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT!

This story takes place about 25 years before the events in The Hive.

* * *

**Unusual Testing**

Dr. Kirchoff sat in a chair in front of a small panel, covered in blinking lights and dials. It was a familiar sight. He had worked here day in and day out for the past three years. The walls of the room were all made of concrete, lined with blinking computer monitors and gadgetry except for the one directly in from of him. This wall was entirely made out of thick reinforced plastic covered in a special substance that made it act like a double sided mirror. On the other side of the plastic was a large white containment cell.

As for Kirchoff himself, all in all he looked fairly average. He wasn't particularly tall, nor short. His brown hair was cut short and his clothes hung slightly loose on his thin frame. I other words, he was rather unremarkable.

On the left wall of the room from where he sat had a small door that lead to his meager living quarters, and on his right was the door that lead to the rest of the facility.

Kirchoff gazed into the deserted cell wistfully. All in all, he looked fairly average. He wasn't particularly tall, nor short. His brown hair was cut short and his clothes hung slightly loose on his thin frame. It seemed so desolate and lonely without him in there.

* * *

When Kirchoff first began working as a Xenologist six years ago he merely saw the Xenomorphs like everybody else saw them, mindless, dumb, brutal killing machines. He didn't see many himself, but the stories the Marines told about them were enough to make his blood run cold.

All of that changed when he was offered a job studying Xenomorph behaviour at the Bernard Research Facility. When he received the offer, he felt conflicted. He was honored that he would be chosen to work at one of the best Weyland-Yutani facilities around, but he didn't see much point in studying Xeno behaviour. Over the past century, thousands of people had tried and failed to see what made Xenomorphs tick and had failed, some more catastrophically than others. Nonetheless, Kirchoff was flattered by the letter and decided to take the job.

Once he arrived after the 4 year voyage, Kirchoff was briefed on his duties. He was to observe, record and deduce the reactions and behavioural patterns of a particular Xenomorph warrior born and raised in captivity. He would be reporting directly to the head of the Xenomorph Studies Association, a woman named Dr. Ursula Nigel.

For the first few weeks, he didn't even get to see his subject. Instead he was put through rigorous training, learning how to use the equipment in his lab/observatory and the various methods used in testing Xenomorph subjects. Most of them involved the use of drugs to simulate real stimuli rather than having to manually produce the reactions. It was harsh on the Xenomorphs, and as a result they didn't usually live longer than several months under lab conditions.

The day Kirchoff met his subject was an eventful one. He walked from his quarters down to the continent cells in the underbelly of the facility and into his new workplace/living quarters. All of his possessions had been moved here the previous day and were all in a small whitewashed room off to the side of the main one that functions as a living area, washroom and kitchen. The main room was filled with a wide array of computers, monitors and lab equipment. He knew it all either from his previous work or his recent training, but the thing that interested him most was the wall of the room opposite the door. It looked just like the other ones, but at the flick of a switch it could be made transparent from one or both sides. It was a simple yet valuable tool used in Xeno observation.

Kirchoff sat down at a control panel directly in front of the double sided mirror wall and fiddled around with the controls. The wall turned transparent and revealed the other room behind it. It was the same size as his, but the whole room was made of a white, acid proof fiberglass. Inside the room was bare and empty except for a shapeless form curled up in a corner of the room. It would have been indistinguishable from a shadow if its rhythmic breathing didn't give it away.

"Yes, that's our little troublemaker," said a soft voice beside Kirchoff's head. He started and whirled around. Standing next to him was Dr. Nigel who was looking at the black form in the corner of the room. "Officially, his id is V-4132, but I've nicknamed him Valen."

"Valen? Like Valentine?" Kirchoff asked.

Dr. Nigel nodded and said, "Yes, like Valentine. He's your subject now. He's been passed from doctor to doctor for the past year and a half, no one can bear to have him for more than 6 months. I'm surprised that he's still alive. That said, try not to kill him off too quickly, he's rather… interesting."

* * *

Valen felt the human's gaze on him. Even though he couldn't see it, he could hear the human behind the wall, and it was watching him, waiting for him to do something. He wouldn't give it that satisfaction. Instead he remained curled up in the corner of the room and gazed silently back at it behind the fake wall.

Without warning a loud alarm blared sounded and pain spiked through his head. He shrieked and screamed at the pain. He covered his head as best he could to try and blot out the horrible noise. The noise blared on and on for what seemed like an eternity until it finally, mercifully stopped.

There was silence in the room, then a voice boomed out, "Alright Valen, it's time to start your basic analysis."

Instead of hissing or screeching at the human, he looked at the fake wall and shook his head in defiance.

* * *

On the other side of the wall, Kirchoff was shocked. _Did it just shake it's head?_

"Can you understand me?" Kirchoff asked, speaking into a microphone on the computer. Valen nodded his head.

_Okay, what the hell_, Kirchoff though. _It can understand me. How the hell can it understand me?_

_Your language is not a difficult one to learn_, said a voice. It wasn't a voice per se since it wasn't spoken and he couldn't hear anything coming from the room, but Kirchoff could definitely hear a voice talking to him in his head.

_Oh shit, am I crazy? _he asked himself.

_I don't know. Is mental communication with an inhuman creature a form of insanity?_ the voice asked.

Kirchoff clenched his ears in attempt to blot out the voice.

_What are you doing? You look like an idiot._

"Why won't you just shut the hell…" He looked up and saw Valen looking at him through the glass, his head tilted in what he assumed was concerned interest.

"Did you just say that?"

_Said what?_ Valen looked away innocently.

_Oh great_, he thought. _I'm either insane, or I have to deal with a sarcastic Xenomorph that can speak to me in my head. I don't know which is worse._

_I believe insanity would be the easier burden to bear,_ said the voice.

* * *

"Okay Valen, let's try this again. I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to give me a straight answer or I'll shock you."

_Why? You'll shock me if I answer or not, so why should I bother? _Valen asked.

"Fine, then I'll gas you!" Kirchoff shouted.

_I still won't talk,_ Valen retorted.

"Gah!" Kirchoff stepped away from the panel and began pacing his room.

_No, I still won't talk even if you 'Gah!' me._

Kirchoff let out a stream of curses, kicking his chair across the room and pulling at his hair. Nothing was working. No matter if he gassed, electrocuted, hosed, starved, injected or beat him, Valen refused to show any signs of breaking. The only things he had gotten out of him for the past month were snarky retorts. He stalked back to the panel and was about to press the button to electrocute Valen when a sudden idea came to mind. It was unorthodox, and the risk of killing Valen was high, but if it worked it would more than likely succeed in breaking his will. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that it would be the best way to go.

"Alright Valen, I won't hurt you," Kirchoff said into the microphone.

_Hmmmm?_ Valen raised his head and looked up at him in mock interest.

"In fact, I'm not going to do anything to you. Hope you don't mind some alone time." He pressed several buttons on the panel and Valen's room went dark. Soundproof panels slid down from slots in the ceiling and covered the walls.

_Is this some attempt on your part to be clever?_ Valen asked sarcastically.

"Oh, you'll see." he said as he pressed a button and the wall turned opaque.

* * *

For a long time, Kirchoff didn't try to hurt Valen in any way. In fact, he left him completely alone, not speaking to him, observing him or trying to interact with him in the slightest. The wall remained opaque and still while his plan took effect.

For the first week or so, Valen put on a display of indifference, acting like he didn't want to speak to the human Kirchoff. By the end of the next week he felt a tad lonely. By the end of the month he was getting desperate. He had never ceased communications with someone for so long and he could feel the results kicking in. He had trouble getting what little rest he needed, he rarely ate and his thoughts were muddled and sluggish. He tried to get the human Kirchoff's attention, but whenever he tried to reach him he couldn't sense him anywhere.

_He… can't do this… for much longer… _he thought. _Then I'll give… give him the sassing… of a lifetime._

It was another full month before he heard from the human again. He was lying sprawled out on the floor, wallowing in misery when he saw the wall turn transparent out of the corner of his eye and the human's voice blared out from the hidden speakers in the walls.

"Hello there Valen, you're looking good today." Kirchoff said with a slight sneer.

Valen remained silent and still. He didn't have the energy to make any attempt at making a comeback.

"What, no witty remarks?" Kirchoff asked.

_No…_ he said quietly.

"Well that's a shock. Now, unless you want to be left alone again for even longer, I suggest you cooperate with me from now on. Do you understand?"

_Yes…_

"Very well, we start tomorrow morning. And try to cut down on the sass."


	2. Chapter 2

"So, then… Tell me about yourself Valen." Kirchoff said over the microphone.

_What do you want to know?_ Despite his grumpy tone, Kirchoff could tell that he was glad to have someone to talk to. Or he might have just have been putting on an act so he wouldn't be put in solitary confinement again.

"Let's start with the basics," Kirchoff said, "What is the practical function of your skin color?"

_I thought it would be obvious to you Mr. Scientist,_ Valen retorted.

"It is, but I want to hear it from you."

_It's camouflage, obviously. What is the point of this?_

"Mmmhmm," he mumbled, ignoring the question. "Now tell me, how did you learn to speak our language?"

Valen looked a bit shocked. _I thought we were starting with the basics._

"We did, and now we're moving on to the more complicated subjects," Kirchoff replied, smirking. "Now tell me, how did you learn to speak english? I didn't think that you would be smart enough to do something like that."

Valen looked indignant. _Despite appearances among my brethren we are not, in fact, the dumb, brutish animals you make us out to be. As you should know by observing me, we are rather intelligent, and I just so happen to be even more intelligent than the average... 'Xenomorph' as you call us. It was an easy task to listen in on your conversations and learn your primitive language._

"How long did it take you to learn all this?" he asked.

_Only about one month by your calendar._

"Unbelievable!" Kirchoff exclaimed.

_I beg your pardon?_

"That's incredible! You learned to speak fluent english in less than a month by simply listening? Holy shit!" Kirchoff was flabbergasted.

_You… you're impressed?_ He sounded dubious.

"Of course I am! That's unbelievable!"

Valen stood up slightly straighter at that. _Well it isn't _that_ big of a deal. _

"What else have you learned? By watching us, I mean." Kirchoff asked excitedly.

_Well, I do know that you have a device that can measure the passing of time, and that you also…_ Valen spouted on and on for well over three hours about the things he had found out by watching his previous human researchers. Whenever he fumbled when trying to describe an object he didn't know the name of, Kirchoff stepped in and helped out. Despite his little mistakes, Valen seemed unfeasible proud of himself and Kirchoff was dumbfounded by his observations. If he was a human, he would certainly have been a great scientist. In return for his cooperation, Kirchoff told Valen what the humans knew about the Xenomorphs.

_Pitiful, absolutely pitiful,_ he said, shaking his head. _Is that all of your brilliant scientists have deduced about us over the past century?_

"Yes, and I know it isn't much, but that's why you're here." he replied. "My job is to study you and try and find out as much about Xenomorphs as I can. However…"

_It would be much easier for both of us if I just tell you everything I know,_ Valen finished. _But why would I ever want to do that? If I tell you all that I know right now, the humans will kill me, you'll be out of a job and the other humans will use your research to wipe out every last one of my species._

Kirchoff leaned back in his chair, digesting what Valen had just said. If he played his cards right, he could make his job easier and more productive than he ever could have using the established research methods. A talking Xenomorph wasn't exactly a common occurrence. He thought long and hard about what he was going to say before he said it, "I do not believe that you need to tell me everything. All you need to show me is that you are an intelligent species that we should try to avoid and repel rather than exterminate."

Valen stayed silent and still, waiting for him to go on. He took a deep breath and continued, "Currently, our only method of protecting ourselves from your kind is to kill you or destroy your hives, which is violent, deadly and unpleasant for both of our species. So what I'm suggesting is that you tell me enough about yourself and your species so that we can avoid conflict. That way, we could both benefit. I would get all the data we need to create reasonable defence and deterrent systems, and it would prolong your life considerably. Who knows, one day you might be set free."

_Fat chance of that happening,_ Valen let out something like a snort_, But I do see your logic. It could work if you play this right. However, this is a dangerous game you are suggesting. I would be putting my life entirely in your hands. If you mess up and let something slip, they'll know something's up and they'll torture me for information until I die, and who knows what will happen to you._

"Yes, it will be dangerous, but the reward will be worth the risk. What do you say?"

Valen was silent for a long time before he replied, _I see no better alternative. Yes, I will go along with your plan._

* * *

Once Valen agreed to Kirchoff's plan, things went without a hitch for the next year and a half. Kirchoff worked normally during the day, filing, compiling and interpreting data while everyone else was working. Every week, he had a conference with Dr. Nigel and several other leading members of the X.S.A., such as Dr. Monroe, an extremely obese man who was leading the Xenomorph Behaviour Studies division of the X.S.A. on the station and Dr. Gavin, the director of the station. They were all very impressed by his work and the remarkable progress he made in studying Xenomorph behaviour.

When regular work hours were over, Kirchoff stayed in his lab and talked to Valen. The easiest way for him to get information out of Valen was to ask questions, but he rarely ever gave him a straight answer. Instead he answered in riddles or brainteasers that frustrated Kirchoff to no end. It was still a much more efficient method than trying to torture information out of Valen, but trying to solve his convoluted and confusing puzzles made it far harder on Kirchoff.

"Why do you have those dorsal tubes?"

_Who are you, but what am I?_

"That isn't even relevant!"

He wondered if it would have been better to just gas Valen until he gave him what he wanted.

The one thing Valen never revealed was how he did his telekinesis trick. Whenever Kirchoff raised the subject, he deliberately avoided talking about it. When Kirchoff pressured him all he got was, _All I'm telling you is that you're lucky that your half assed little brain can even comprehend what I'm saying!_

By the sounds of it, Valen couldn't do his neat little trick with everyone. _So why me? Am I special or something? Is that why Dr. Nigel selected me to study him?_

It wasn't all business in the lab though. Valen was curious about the mechanics of human society, which were a total enigma to him. The idea that people acted for their own personal gain was a mystery to him, and it took months of detailed explanations and examples before he was finally satisfied.

_So if a human were with a group of other humans, and there was only one slab of meat, why wouldn't they share the meat with the others._

"Well some might, it depends."

_Depends on what? You told me that a human would just take the meat._

"Argh!"

In exchange, Valen dropped little bits and pieces of information about the Xenomorphs that weren't enamoured in riddles or mind benders. It wasn't much, but it kept Kirchoff coming back night after night to talk.

Compared to his other brothers and sisters locked up in the facility, Valen was rather gentle and calm, and obviously far more intelligent. If Kirchoff was an exceptional scientist among humans, then Valen was a philosopher amongst Xenomorphs. He spent most of his time relaxing and thinking, rarely showing any outwards interest into Kirchoff's research, but Kirchoff knew that whenever he was around Valen was tuning into his thoughts, making little comments whenever he found a mistake in his data.

As time went on, Kirchoff began to spend more and more time with Valen, talking for hours on end into the wee hours of the morning. Their conversations became less serious and more just excuses to spend time with each other.

"Are you sure you can do that?"

_Watch me._

"I still don't believe that you could possibly… oh my god you're doing it!"

_Told you I could._

"How do you even bend like that?"

_Practice._

Surprisingly, Valen actually had a decent sense of humor and loved to mess with Kirchoff wherever he could. One of his favorite ways to scare Kirchoff was to wait until he wasn't paying attention then charge into the wall next to him. A charging Xenomorph isn't the most pleasant thing to see, and Kirchoff was sure that he lost at least 5 years of his life from the sheer amount of times Valen had spooked him.

Not only did Valen love scaring the shit out of Kirchoff, but he also enjoyed teasing him. He took every opportunity to twist something Kirchoff said or thought into something dirty, especially after one particular day about a year and a half into Kirchoff's research.

* * *

It was a long day for Kirchoff and he had just sat down in his chair to try to get some rest. He put his legs up on the control panel, careful to avoid hitting any of the buttons or dials and let his mind wander. He thought about the horrid attempt at making breakfast he had made, his weekly conference with Dr. Nigel, the cute laboratory assistant he had met in the cafeteria. The way he looked was… He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about that, especially around Valen.

_Kirchoff, why are you thinking about naked females?_ Valen asked.

_Oh god, too late,_ he thought. He stayed silent, hoping that Valen would just leave him alone if he ignored him. It didn't work.

_Are you ashamed? Don't worry, its only natural for a boy your age, _he mocked.

"Shut up Valen, I'm not thinking about that!" he said indignantly. His face turned hot and he saw Valen chuckling in his cell.

_Oh, you are right, silly me! I must have been mistaken,_ Valen said.

"Really?" he asked dubiously.

_Yes. You're thinking about naked males, not females,_ Valen said with a mental smirk.

"Shut up!" He yelled.

_I don't hear a denial!_ Valen taunted. He walked over to the fake wall and pressed his head against it. It was a rather poor attempt to get in his face, but it did the trick.

"I said shut up Valen!"

_Oh my! Are you really attracted to other males?_ he asked in an amused tone.

"Why should I tell you?" Kirchhoff asked defiantly.

_Because I can tell what you're thinking,_ he said. _It's hard to keep a secret from somebody who can get into your mind._

He let out a sigh of defeat. "Yes Valen, if you must know, I am attracted to other males." His face went red again and he looked away from Valen's head elongated head pressed against the wall.

_Why are you ashamed?_ he asked.

"I'm not ashamed, it's just… well… humans aren't very… accepting of my… sexual preference. Especially here." He was right. Despite laws promoting gay rights set in place years ago, the Colonial Marine Corps. and Weyland-Yutani remained very heterocentric organizations. It hadn't affected Kirchoff since he was so heavily closeted, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep his sexuality hidden.

_That has to be the most pathetic excuse I've heard from you. Which is saying something knowing what you pull._ Valen shook his head and stared at Kirchoff.

"What do you mean pathetic?" he asked indignantly. "I'm comfortable with myself."

_Like hell you are!_ Valen was glaring at him from the other side of the glass.

'What do you mean?"

_Look at you! You're so embarrassed that you can't even talk about your sexual preferences to me!_

"And why on earth would I ever want to speak to you about my sexual preferences? I talk to you because I need to!" Kirchoff spat back.

_Hah_! Valen snorted in his cell. _That's rich! You've been chatting me up for the past year and a half and you're trying to pull _that_ trick. You said yourself, and I quote, 'you're the closest thing to a friend I have on this godforsaken station'. Don't you trust me?_

"Why would I trust you? You're just a stupid Xenomorph!"

A sudden spike of pain wracked though Kirchoff's head and sent him tumbling to his knees. It felt like a bullet had just lodged itself in his brain and was burning a hole in his head.

_Just… a... stupid… Xenomorph... am I?_ Valen seethed.

"N-n-no, I meant that…"

_Meant what, exactly?_ Valen was furious, pacing his cell and lashing out at the walls, leaving long scratch marks on the white and and floor. _That I'm just another dumb animal that can't tell his head from his tail? WHAT?_

Kirchoff's head felt like it was going to explode. The sheer fury that Valen was projecting was burning into his mind like a hot iron.

_Valen,_ he thought through the pain searing in his head, _Calm down._

_Calm down? CALM DOWN? Why would I calm down after what you just said!_ Valen fumed. _You can't even trust me, even after I entrusted you with my life! Remember that little agreement we had? The one where I would tell you what you wanted and you kept me alive in exchange. That one!_

_I remember,_ he thought.

_Really? It seems like you forgot that first bit!_ Valen stalked over to a corner of his room and curled up, facing away from the wall and Kirchoff.

Kirchoff laid on the floor for what seemed like an eternity. Valen was right. He did entrust him with his own life, and he hadn't even considered the implications of it. Valen must have a certain level of trust in Kirchoff, no matter how frail, and he just brushed it off. Kirchoff knew that if he and Valen were going to cooperate in the future, he had to mend this wound now. He brought himself up and into his chair and turned on the microphone.

"Listen, Valen.." he began, "I'm sorry for what I said. I was upset and…"

_And?_

"And you were right, I am pathetic. I can't even say that I like men without doubting myself." He looked down at his feet in shame, both for insulting Valen and for being such a wuss. There was a long period of silence before Valen broke the silence.

_You don't need to feel ashamed of yourself, Kirchoff,_ he said gently. Kirchoff looked up. It was the first time he had heard Valen use his name. _You are what you are and nothing anyone says or does will change that. I should know, I'm also…_ Valen broke off quickly. _Nevermind. Now, what were you saying about being a pathetic wreck?_

"Wait a minute, what was that last part?" Kirchoff asked.

_The part about you being a pathetic wreck?_ Valen asked, a bit too quickly.

"No, before that."

_I didn't say anything before that, _he said nervously.

"Yes you did. You said I'm also… oh... Oh!" Kirchoff looked over at Valen, who was examining the pointed end of his tail with a great deal of interest. "You?"

_Me? Me what?_

"You? Really?" Kirchoff was astounded. "You're attracted to males?"

_I didn't say that, _Valen said

"You were about to!" Kirchoff laughed. It started out as a little giggle but quickly turned into full on, rolling on the floor, eye watering laughter.

_What's so funny?_ he asked.

"You… you… it's just… you… Ahahahaha!" he wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. "Sorry, it's just that I never would have suspected you until you slipped up."

_I didn't slip up, I did it intentionally,_ Valen said haughtily.

"Like hell you did!" he shot back.

_Of course I did. I never make mistakes._

"Of course you don't."

They were silent for a time. Kirchoff sat back in his chair and put his legs back up on the control panel.

_Kirchoff_, Valen said.

"Yes?" he asked.

_Do you find this…_ Valen turned around and raised his tail, _attractive?_

"Find what attractive? What are you talking…" Kirchoff looked over at Valen and nearly fell out of his chair. "Oh my god!"

Valen let out a gurgling hiss that Kirchoff could have sworn was laughter.

* * *

Please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	3. Chapter 3

From that day on, Valen was even more open around Kirchoff. They talked about subjects they had previously kept to themselves.

"So are there any things that you like in a potential mate?"

_They have to know when to shut up and take it, unlike someone I know._

"Shut up!"

_Yes, exactly!_

Valen wasn't very judgemental, even though Kirchoff couldn't see how he could be, considering Valen's sexual preference. It turns out that among Xenomorphs, homosexuality is a very common and accepted practice. Only the Queen could reproduce, but all Xenomorphs are born with sexual organs and apparently had a very active sex drive, so they usually ended up mating with any other Xenomorph they could get their hands on regardless of gender.

Kirchoff wondered if that applied to Valen, and how he dealt with it. He imagined Valen curled up in a corner beating off to whatever twisted things he got off to. He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind before he threw up.

Valen also talked more about the social behaviour of Xenomorphs.

_As you may have guessed,_ he told Kirchoff,_ We live in hives with a queen ruling over us. She is the only one that is fertile and can lay eggs, but as I have told you, all Xenomorphs are born with sexual organs. Then there are the various other types of Xenomorphs that you have classified. Drones, which tend to the queen and maintain the hive. Runners, which act like your military scouts. Then there are the Praetorians, and to a greater extent the warriors like myself, who protect the hive from troublesome beings like you. There are a variety of other types, but you wouldn't be interested in them._

Kirchoff squirmed in his seat. He would very much like to hear about the other, rarer breeds of Xenomorphs, but he didn't want to interrupt Valen when he was so talkative.

_However,_ he continued, _What you may not have known is that the queen acts like more than a breeding machine for the hive. She is not only our ruler, but our mother. She can control the emotions of the hive with pheromones similar to bees, but she is also intelligent and must care for all of her children, or else they will all die, similar to how you almost killed me._

"Almost killed you?" Kirchoff looked shocked, "When?"

_When you locked me up for two months, you twit!_ exclaimed Valen. _We are very social creatures, and if we are cut off from interaction with other creatures or to a greater extent, our queen, we will die in months or even weeks._

"So how can you survive without a queen?" Kirchoff asked.

_I was born and raised in captivity. I never had a queen. Instead I have to maintain a connection with somebody to stay sane and healthy._

"Oh," he mumbled, "I see."

_As I was saying, we require constant social interaction to stay healthy. However, we aren't just insects, as you can probably tell, but intelligent creatures and we have emotions just like any other sentient being. The finer details of our emotions are determined by our hosts, but in general we feel the same basic desires as all creatures, hunger, pain, happiness, depression…_

"And what about guilt?" Kirchoff interrupted.

_Hah, guilt about what? Killing humans?_ Valen asked.

"I meant in general," Kirchoff said.

_No you didn't,_ he snorted. _If you must know, we do have the ability to feel regret, but answer me this: should we feel guilt over killing our prey, be it animal or human?_

"I… no, I don't think so." he said, "That wouldn't be very good for a predatory species like yours."

_Exactly, I'm glad to see you understand._

"What about love?"

_Love… If you mean love in the sense of sexual infatuation then yes, we are very capable of showing that. If you mean love as in the human definition…_ he paused before continuing. _Then I'm not sure, it is a tough question to answer. We can form close emotional bonds, but to love…_

Kirchoff waited for Valen to continue, but he went quiet and refused to speak again, so he retired to his room for the night. He laid on his bed for a long time, pondering what Valen had said.

* * *

Kirchoff woke up in a tangle of blankets the next morning. He rolled over and looked at his alarm clock.

_10:27… Oh shit!_ he thought. _I overslept!_

He untangled himself from the mess of blankets and looked at himself. He was still dressed from yesterday.

_Fuck it, I'll just wear these._ He grabbed an apple from the fridge and gobbled it down as he struggled with his labcoat. he stumbled out of the door to his lab and was shocked to see someone sitting in his chair in front of the control panel with her back to him.

"Excuse me, who the hell are you?" he asked.

"I'm your new assistant," she said in a calm, monotone voice. She turned around and he saw that she was dressed in a plain white lab coat, grey slacks and a grey sweater. Her face wasn't unattractive, but it was plain and devoid of any unusual features. All in all, she was bland and forgettable.

_I didn't realize you requested an assistant_, Valen said suspiciously.

_I didn't_, Kirchoff replied in his head.

"Um, if you don't mind my asking, who sent you here?" Kirchoff asked the bland woman.

"Dr. Nigel sent me here to assist you in your research," she said in her unnerving monotone voice.

"I'll be sure to extend my thanks to Dr. Nigel."

_I do _not_ like her,_ Valen said to Kirchoff, _She gives me the creeps._

_Same here._

"Shall we begin Dr. Kirchoff?" the plain woman asked.

"Yes, we can start with some basic stimulation with the water jets," he muttered.

"Very well," the woman reached out and pressed several buttons and cranked a dial marked 'Water Pressure' up to the maximum.

"Wait, not that much!" Kirchoff shouted at the woman as a blast of water powerful enough to punch through steel blasted from a hole in the side of the wall and slammed into Valen, pinning him to the opposite wall. He quickly turn the dial down so that the vicious torrent turned into a gentle spray.

"Valen! Are you okay?" Kirchoff shouted into the microphone.

_I just got hit by a water blast that almost ripped my limbs off, do you think I'm okay you dim witted idiot?!_ Valen snapped back. He tried to stand up, but collapsed to the ground in agony whenever he tried to put weight on his legs.

Kirchoff whirled around to face his new assistant who was sitting blank faced in front of the control panel.

"What the hell did you do that for? I wanted to do basic stimulation, not blast him to bits!" he yelled at her. She simply stared forwards ignoring him. "Hey, I asked you a question! Why did you do that?"

She turned her head to him and looked him dead in the eyes. He shivered under her cold, blank stare.

"Why should you care?" She asked, "It's only a Xenomorph."

The question wasn't out of the ordinary, but Kirchoff could sense the meaning behind it._ She's trying to get me in some kind of trouble._

"That is true, but he's also a valuable specimen," he said carefully, "I've made more progress studying him than any other researcher has in the past thirty years. There is still so much more research that I have to do."

"Such as?"

"Well, er…"

"You hesitated. Are you concealing information from me?" she asked. Suddenly, her tone wasn't bland and monotone, it was harsh and demanding. She stood up and glowered at Kirchoff, who shrank back a bit.

Despite her fearsome appearance, he refused to show weakness, especially in front of Valen who was watching the scene from behind the transparent wall, "Okay, that's it. Get out of here. Now!" He gestured at the door.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. When she spoke again her voice was filled with venom, "What did you just say to me?"

"I told you to get out, you are not suitable as an assistant," he said more forcefully than before.

"Are you questioning the authority of Dr. Nigel?" the woman asked.

Kirchoff knew he had to be careful. If this woman was working for Dr. Nigel, and he had no reason to suspect her of lying, then he had to choose his next words carefully. "No, I respect her decision to appoint you as my assistant," he said slowly and deliberately, "However, since you are my assistant, it is my decision to make whether or not you are suitable to work with me, which I have decided against. Now leave before I call security."

The woman showed no signs of moving,"You overestimate your authority."

"Do I?" he asked.

"Yes," the woman said. As if a switch had been flicked, her voice had lost all of it's anger and had been replaced by the monotone blandness it had earlier. This scared Kirchoff more than if she had snapped at him.

"Good day Dr. Kirchoff," she said. She looked him in the eyes one last time, then bowed her head and left the room.

He stared after her for a few seconds, then turned his attention back to Valen. He had managed to stand up, but he was moving slowly, letting off hisses of pain every time he tried to move.

"How are you doing Valen?" he asked.

_I already told you, you imbecile!_ Valen shouted. _I'm in a lot of pain!_

"You know what I mean," he replied. "Any injuries that I should be worried about?"

_No, I'll heal,_ he curled up next to the fake wall near where Kirchoff stood at the control board. _Who the hell was that woman?_

"Someone we should be wary of. I think she was telling the truth when she said she was working for Dr. Nigel."

_Do you think that's a good thing?_

"No, just the opposite."

* * *

Dr. Nigel was sitting at her desk, reading over Kirchoff's latest report. Her office was sparsely furnished with a desk and a filing cabinet in the corner. The walls were lined with various documents and reports detailing various subjects. Her desk wasn't much better, a mess of papers, discarded coffee cups and writing utensils. She flipped the page of the report she was reading when she heard a light knocking on her door.

"Come in," she called to the knocker. The door opened and a plain woman dressed in a labcoat and a grey sweatpants and shirt stepped into the room. "Ah, Julianne, how are you doing?"

"Fine ma'am," she said in a monotone voice.

Dr. Nigel waved her hand in a dismissive gesture,"Oh, don't call me that. You make me feel like an old woman."

"As you wish Dr. Nigel."

Dr. Nigel stood up from her desk and looked the woman in the eyes. "I assume you have some results or else you wouldn't be here."

"Yes Dr. Nigel, I do."

She raised her eyebrows, "And?"

"Everything indicates that Phase one results are positive. Project Cantharides is ready to proceed as planned."

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, "I trust that you can deal with the subjects?"

"Yes Dr. Nigel."

"Good. We will commence in T minus 6 hours," she said, sitting back in her chair, "Make sure not to use too much this time, I want to keep them alive."

* * *

Ohohoho! What is Dr. Nigel planning? And who are these 'subjects'?

Please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright Valen, I know you think you're fine, but I'm going in there to do an examination whether you like it or not." Kirchoff was fiddling with a series of wires next to a computer shoved off to the side of the room. This computer in particular was the control panel to open a small hatch that lead into Valen's cell. Ordinarily it was used for maintenance purposes and had an alarm that would trigger if it was opened when the cell was occupied, but it was an easy matter for Kirchoff to disable the alarm system.

"Okay let's see if that worked," he muttered. He closed the panel and entered in a long series of passwords into the computer. At first, nothing happened.

_Maybe you messed up the computer thing when you entered a password?_ As smart as Valen was, he was utterly useless with computers.

"No, if the passwords failed it would show it on the screen. I probably messed up with the wiring," Kirchoff replied.

_You don't have to do this you know,_ Valen told him. _I can take care of myself perfectly fine._

"Yes, but I want to make sure that woman didn't cause any permanent damage." He opened up the panel again and made some changes in the wiring. "If this doesn't do it I don't know what will." He went back to the computer and reentered the series of passwords. This time a section of the wall slid into a compartment in the adjoining wall, leaving a hole barely big enough for him to squeeze though.

_Kirchoff, what if you get in trouble?_ Valen asked worriedly.

"Relax you dumb Xeno," he said with a chuckle. "I've disabled all the cameras, security alarms, both silent and loud, and I've locked all of the doors manually."

_Still… _

"Quit your worrying," he said and crawled through the hole. The room looked different on this side of the double sided wall. The walls weren't perfectly white, but had a yellowish stain to them. He could clearly see the scratch marks on the walls from the time he came out to Valen as well as others that he couldn't have made out from the other side of the wall.

"This place is dirtier than I realized," he said to Valen, who was curled up in a corner of the room.

_Well it's not like I had my own personal janitor._

"You should have said something, I could have gotten someone to clean it for you."

_Yeah, like any sane human would enter a room with a live Xenomorph in it,_ Valen said with a snort.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

_What, this?_ He snorted again.

"Yeah, you don't even have nostrils."

_Not ones that you can see anyways._

Kirchoff laughed. "Okay, down to business." He walked over to Valen who was still curled up in his corner.

_Are… are you sure you want to do this?_ he asked.

"Why wouldn't I? I know that you won't bite my face off." He reached out and placed his hand on Valen's head. It wasn't slimy like he suspected, but smooth and dry. He rubbed his hands up and down his elongated head and was surprised when he started to purr. He was like a giant, intelligent, deadly housecat. He chuckled and started to examine Valen's body for injuries. Kirchoff checked for any signs of unusual dents or cuts, but due to the coarse texture of his body it was hard to tell. Whenever he thought he found a wound, he would ask Valen if it hurt when he poked him. He didn't find any injuries on his arms or legs and his head was fine, but he couldn't see very well onto Valen's back, even if he was lying down.

"Hey Valen, move over for a minute, I'm going to check for injuries on your back."

_I'm fine, I told you!_ Valen tried to shove him away from his back with his tail, but Kirchoff fought against him.

"Quit trying to change my mind. I'm already in here and I'm not going to a half assed job."

He ducked under his tail, careful to avoid the spiked tip and leaped on Valen's back from behind. He wrapped his legs around the base of his tail and stretched as far as he could along his back until he grabbed hold of Valen's two lower dorsal tubes.

_Aaah, what… what're you…_ Valen stuttered before breaking off. He stopped fighting and flopped down on the floor, squirming and purring.

"What's with the sudden attitude change?" Kirchoff asked.

_Just… hurry up… mmmmh…_ Valen said. His words were slow and slurred in Kirchoff's mind, like he was hearing him with his ears filled with water.

"Okay…" Kirchoff said warily. He started rubbing his hands over Valen's bumpy backside, looking for more injuries.

"Does this hurt?" he asked, pressing an indent in next to one of his dorsal tubes.

_Gah...N-n-no… oooh…_

"Are you sure? I can get off if it hurts too much."

_No… keep… ah… going…_

He rubbed up one of the dorsal tubes and Valen bucked and squirmed like crazy, almost throwing him off._ They must be really sensitive,_ he thought, _I'd better get off._ Careful not to fall on Valen's tail or legs, he slid off Valen's back and stepped away from him, watching him writhe and purr. Eventually he came to his senses and looked over at Kirchoff, who was watching him with an amused smirk.

_Sorry about that…_ he said sheepishly.

"Don't be. They must be sensitive if they can make you wriggle like that," Kirchoff said. "It doesn't look like there are any serious injuries, just a few bruises and abrasions."

_Like I didn't already know that._ Valen looked uncomfortable, shifting positions and squirming around as if he were trying to avoid sitting on something.

Kirchoff sat down crossed legged several feet away from Valen, not wanting to disturb him any more than he already had. He sat in silence for a long time just watching him before he asked a question that had been preying on his mind for some time. "Valen, do you know where you came from?"

_Yes, and I thought I already explained how babies are made to you. You know, with the facehuggers and the hosts._

"No, I meant do you know where you're species is from? Do you have some kind of homeworld, or are you some kind of experiment that was set loose?"

Valen froze where he was and looked over at Kirchoff._ What makes you ask something like that?_

Kirchoff wasn't entirely sure. He just stayed silent and waited for Valen to answer.

Valen continued to stare at Kirchoff, frozen with his back and tail raised in the air and his legs and arms spread out on both sides of his body. If it weren't for the atmosphere in the room, it would have been amusing. Eventually, he spoke. _To tell you the truth, I do not know where my species comes from. Nor do any of the others I have made contact with. It is a great mystery to us, and one that plagues my every waking moment. I have always wanted to understand the origin of my kind, unlike so many of my species who simply accept our lot in life. We have been given a reputation, and much to my dismay I am affected by it as well. Humans can't see beyond my appearance to the being within._

_Then there are the humans. Those blasted, ignorant, destructive, hate filled, megalomaniacal, idiotic, scum suckers!_ Valen thrashed his tail against the wall, making another gash in the surface._ Humans don't want to know us as beings with a history and a future! They don't even consider the fact that we just might be intelligent. They want to understand me as only an animal, a killing machine, a predator, and not as an intellectual mind, as a curious being, as a person!_

He heaved several deep breaths. Kirchoff was shocked. He knew Valen hated humans, but he didn't know his resentment was so personal. Finally, Valen relaxed and walked gingerly over to Kirchoff. He scooted back a few feet out of instinct, but stopped and let him walk over. He walked behind Kirchoff and carefully wrapped his arms around him. _Kirchoff, you have done this. You have treated me as an equal and a friend, and that is the greatest thing you could give me._

Valens words were touching, but the thing that took up most of Kirchoff's attention were the powerful black arms that were currently wrapped around him. _He's… hugging me?_ The most surprising thing about it was how gentle Valen was. His arms were strong enough to rip apart solid steel, but they held him as though he were a china doll that could break at the slightest touch. It was nice though, and he let Valen hold him for a while longer.

Kirchoff stayed wrapped in Valen's arms until he realized he had been there for over an hour.

"Hey Valen, I've got to get to bed."

_Can't you stay for a little while longer?_ he asked.

"Are you sick in the head or something? First, you didn't want me to come in, now you don't want me to leave!"

_I know, it's just…_

"Just what?" he asked. This was getting ridiculous.

_Nevermind. You'd better go to bed._

Kirchoff disentangled himself from Valen's arms and they walked the short distance to the maintenance door side by side. The door was as small as ever, and Kirchoff only made it through with a helpful shove from Valen.

He was about to return to his quarters when Valen's voice in his head stopped him, _Kirchoff._

"Yes Valen?"

_Thank you._

No insult on the end, no witty comment about his pathetic brain, no play on words.

"Did I just hear that right?" Kirchoff turned around and looked at Valen, who was curled up on the floor near the maintenance, "Did you actually just thank me?"

_I'm not going to say it again._

Kirchoff stared at Valen, who was till in his position near the maintenance entrance. He caught his gaze, then looked away shyly.

_What is up with him?_ he thought. First his reaction when he was examining his back, the hug and now this. _I'll ask him about it tomorrow._

"I'll see you tomorrow Valen. Try to get some sleep."

* * *

He watched Kirchoff until he closed the door to his personal quarters.

_What's wrong with me?_ Valen thought. Until tonight, he had seen Kirchoff merely as a friend, the one person who made the burden of living in the white walled room for nigh on three years bearable. But now that he had actually come into his cell, cared for him, talked to him and touched him, he couldn't get him out of his mind. He loved the way his hands felt, so warm and careful as they ran along his skin. His body was so much warmer than his own. He could still feel it, press against his own as he examined his back for injuries. If felt unbelievably good when he ran his hands along the sensitive tubes on his back. He wonder how it would feel if Kirchoff were to mount him from behind and...

_No! No, no, no! I can't think about that,_ Valen shook his head violently._ I have to get my mind off of him._

He paced the room trying to think of something to get his mind off of Kirchoff. This was difficult since he had spent almost half of his life under his care and protection. It was funny in a way, that he, a Xenomorph, one of the most deadly creatures in existence needed the protection of a mere human. A wonderful, caring and attractive…

_Who am I kidding,_ he thought._ I just can't do it, he's all I can think about._

He gave up and sprawled out on the floor on his stomach. _Kirchoff… Why you? Of all the beings to… to… love… why you?_

Maybe it was because Kirchoff was so different from the others. All of the other scientists he had been studied by treated him like just another beast, and as a result held no qualms about hurting him. The only way Valen could have any kind of vengeance was to be surly, snarky and a general smartass by refusing to cooperate. This was made more effective by his unique ability to feel emotions and speak to people in their minds. He had no idea why he had it or how it truly functioned, but shortly after discovering it he put it to good use. Only 5 of the 17 scientists he had been assigned to could actually hear him speaking coherently, but only one of them had bothered to try and respond in any meaningful way, that of course being Kirchoff.

At first, Valen treated Kirchoff like all of the other scientists who came before him, but then he made the strange move of offering him a limited degree of freedom and protection in exchange for information. Valen supposed was only a matter of time before he came to respect, trust, like and eventually fall for Kirchoff. Kirchoff actually coming into his cell out of concern for his well being was the final nail in the coffin. Despite the fact that he was a weak, fleshy human, Valen had feelings for him.

_Not that I mind him being a human,_ Valen thought mischievously. _Oh, the things he could do with his hands…_

As he thought about him, he felt his member start to slide out of its sheath. If only Kirchoff knew how much he had aroused him by feeling him up. His dorsal tubes in particular were loaded with sensitive nerve endings to detect changes in air temperature and pressure, and this made them extremely sensitive to touch.

Before Valen could deal with the growing problem between his legs, a quiet hiss filled his ears. He looked around to try and identify the source of the sound, but it didn't seem to be emanating fro anywhere in particular. A strange scent filled his nostrils and his head felt light. He tried to stand up, but his legs felt weak and limp.A shadowy form standing at the control panel caught his attention.

_What'ssss thissss now?_ he thought. _Kirchoff, what are you doing?_ But Kirchoff had gone back to his room for the night, he wasn't here. Valen started to panic as he realized the danger he was in, but before he could do anything, his vision faded and he passed out.

* * *

Another cliffhanger! Ain't I a stinker ;) The next chapter won't be out for a few days due to exams, but this story shall be completed!

Please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	5. Chapter 5

_...beep... ...beep... ...beep..._

"Uuuuurgh, I'm up..." Kirchoff grumbled. The alarm clock on his bedside table kept blaring on until he slammed his hand down on the snooze button. He rubbed rubbed his eyes, before sliding out of bed. His morning routine was the same as always, get up, take a shower, get dressed and eat breakfast. As he opened the door to his quarters the light, much more intense than the regular dull ambient lights, blinded him.

_That's the emergency lights,_ he thought worriedly. _I hope nothing happened to Valen._

Eventually his eyes adjusted to the brightness coming from the lab and he stepped into the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All of the computers were intact and humming quietly, the control board for Valen's room was undisturbed and Valen… Kirchoff did a double take at Valen's cell. It was completely empty.

"I see you have noticed our missing subject," a monotone voice behind him said. Kirchoff whirled around and came face to face with with the bland faced woman from yesterday.

"What's going on?" he asked rudely. "Where's Valen?"

"You mean the Xenomorph?" She shook her head. "It has been moved to a new holding chamber for a second round of testing."

"Second round of testing?"

"Yes, it's reactions to your testing are better than any we hoped for."

Kirchoff was about to shout at the woman to stop being so mysterious and demand that she take him to Valen, but he restrained himself. She worked for Dr. Nigel, and he didn't want to cross her.

"So what am I supposed to do now without a test subject?" Kirchoff asked the woman. "I'm not going to of any use here sitting on my ass."

"You are to remain here until we reassign you in t minus two hundred hours," she said in her unnerving voice. "Or as you put it, sit here on your ass."

"Oh, so you have a sense of humor now?" Kirchoff scoffed, "Fantastic! Perfect way to start my day!"

"Why are you upset Dr. Kirchoff?"

Kirchoff grabbed the woman by the front of her labcoat and held her as he stared her right in the eyes. "Why? I'll tell you why! It's because that Xenomorph was by far the most intelligent being I have ever met, and all you do is stand there and insult him like he's some kind of beast. Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, the Xenos are just as smart as us, if not smarter?" Kirchoff was yelling now, pouring all of his anger and hatred for this woman into his words.

"Has the thought that there are being superior to humans ever crossed your pathetic little mind? Have you ever even done any kind of testing to try and prove that Xenomorphs are capable of rational thought beyond the normal range of testing? Have you even considered that… urk!"

His words were cut off abruptly by a hand wrapping around his throat. The woman was grasping his neck and squeezing, a look of pure unadulterated fury on her face. "Listen, and listen well Kirchoff, because I won't deign to repeat myself," she seethed. "You should consider yourself lucky that your little Xenomorph friend wasn't killed. Not all of our previous subjects were viable options to move on to the second phase of Project Cantharides."

She let go of his neck and Kirchoff fell to the floor gagging and coughing.

"You are to remain here until you are reassigned in t minus two hundred hours," she said, switching over to her usual plain tone of voice. She turned on her heels and walked out of the room, leaving Kirchoff gasping on the floor. He struggled to his feet and stumbled over to the door, but it had been locked from the outside. Still gasping, he made his way back to the chair in front of the control panel and collapsed into his chair. When he was finally able to breathe again, Kirchoff was able to fully comprehend what the woman had done.

"That bitch!" he fumed. She obviously had something to do with Valen's disappearance, and he was going to find out what. He looked over at Valen's empty cell and his anger quickly turned into sadness. It had only been about 15 minutes since he noticed his absence, and already the place seemed so desolate without him.

Kirchoff put his legs up on the control panel and gazed into the cell. From this side, the walls were a pristine white, with only a few gashes in the walls. Kirchoff wondered what kind of optical technology they used to disguise the yellow stains and slashed up walls so well. It would have to be some kind of computer controlled illusion, editing the scene constantly so it would appear less derelict.

Over the next two hours, Kirchoff mind drifted from topic to topic, but they always lead back on to the one question burning a hole in his mind. What were they doing to Valen? Judging by the woman's brief visit the previous day, they were probably torturing him at that very moment. He put his head in his hands and moaned. All this time he had tried his best to keep Valen safe for as long as he could, but now that the day had come where he was taken away he wished he could have done more. He could have set Valen free somehow, let him run wild in the vast jungles of the planet. No, that wouldn't have worked. From what he heard from the marines who patrolled the exterior of the facility, the jungle held more dangerous creatures than the Xenomorphs. The jungle and it's inhabitants were an excellent deterrent for any invading forces wanting to take over the facility. Fortunately, none of them were nearly as smart as the Xenos, or the research facility never would have been built here.

Despite the worry he felt for poor Valen, the suspicious nature of Valens relocation didn't go unnoticed on Kirchoff. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have received notice of his reassignment and Valen's removal at least a month in advance, and he suspected it had to do with the Project Cantharides the woman had mentioned. Kirchoff had no idea what Project Cantharides was, but if Valen was necessary to their plans it couldn't be any ordinary research project. The woman also said Valen was selected for phase two of the experiment, which obviously meant that there had to be a phase one. If that was the case, was assigning him to study Valen phase one? It seemed more than likely.

_What's taking them so long?_ he thought. He looked over at a clock hanging from the wall and saw that four hours had passed since his meeting with the woman. _I thought I was supposed to be reassigned in two hours. Lazy assholes probably got the wrong room number._

Just as he was thinking this, an almost imperceptible hissing noise filled his ears. It didn't seem to be coming from any particular place, but Kirchoff could definitely hear it.

"What's going on now?" he grumbled.

The hissing noise grew louder, and as it did so Kirchoff began to feel lightheaded. He stumbled and fell backwards into his chair, tipping it over and sending him crashing to the floor.

"What... is this..." was all Kirchoff could get out before his vision blurred and he blacked out.

* * *

A loud siren startled Valen into sudden consciousness. He leaped up into a standing position, but his legs gave way and he face planted on the floor. The siren blared on for several more minutes before it ceased. Slowly, Valen stood up and took in the scene around him. The room he was now it was almost identical to his other room, except it was double the size.

_At least it is cleaner than the other cell,_ Valen said to himself. He paced his new prison blankly for several minutes before he realized something. _Kirchoff doesn't know what has happened! He must be worried._ However, before Valen could do anything too drastic another siren sounded, but it came from the other side of the room. Valen looked over and saw a two panels open up on the walls opposite of each other. Out of one of the doorways came another Xenomorph. It was a healthy looking specimen, standing at least as tall as Valen with a wicked set of gleaming claws and a shining spike on the end of it's tail.

_Not bad,_ Valen thought, _Perhaps I can try to make their acquaintance._ Valen looked over at the other doorway expectantly, wondering what kind of Xenomorph would emerge from it. Much to his surprise, it wasn't a Xeno that walked out, but a human and it wasn't looking too good. He, and Valen could tell from this distance it was a he, was stumbling around as though he were intoxicated. The human looked around, then started stumbling towards the Xenomorph that had came through the other door, babbling at it incoherently.

_Poor thing,_ Valen shook his elongated head. _He'll be torn to shreds._ He sat back to watch the show, but then the human's speech began to clear up and he heard what the human was saying.

"Va… Valen... is… that you?" He reached out to try and touch the new Xenomorph but it only backed away and hissed.

A chill went down Valen's spine as he heard the words. _That's Kirchoff! _

Valen sprinted to the other side of the room. The other Xenomorph was just raising it's clawed hand in the air to cut Kirchoff into ribbons when Valen slammed into it and sent both of them tumbling across the floor in a tangle of flailing claws and spikes. They struggled on the floor, snapping at each others necks with their inner jaws and scratching each other with their claws. As the fight dragged on, Valen noticed that his adversary was far stronger than him, and if the fight continued for much longer he would be overpowered, which would ensure both his and Kirchoff's deaths. Valen whipped his tail around and struck a glancing blow on the side of the Xeno's head which stunned it enough for him to break free and stand in front of Kirchoff protectively.

The enemy Xeno shook it's head and hissed loudly at Valen. He hissed back defiantly, baring his both sets of his teeth. Both Xenomorphs hissed at each other, the powerful new one circling the room and Valen following his movements, keeping himself between the enemy Xeno and Kirchoff, who managed to stumble over to one of the walls and was. They danced around the room for a long time with neither side showing any signs of giving up, but Valen could see that the other Xeno was growing tired of their standoff.

Valen took the opportunity to try and weasel his way out of the situation.

_Listen,_ he told the other Xeno, _I don't want to keep doing this any more than you do, so why don't we just agree to drop this little quarrel._

_You attack me,_ the other Xeno replied. While she, Valen could tell from the tone of her mental voice that it was a female, could speak english, she wasn't nearly as fluent as him. _I fight back. Now I kill you._

_Now wait a moment,_ Valen said. _I don't want to fight you. There are few enough of us here as it is, and it would be a real shame if you were lost. You are an amazing fighter, and your strength goes unmatched by any of our kind that I have met before._

The female Xeno looked embarrassed from the flattery Valen was lavishing on her, but she didn't comment.

_For both our sakes, we should drop our quarrel and move on. We can both live together peacefully,_ Valen continued. The female Xenomorph had calmed down and was swishing her tail around on the floor. She stalked languidly over to Valen and rubbed her head against his, purring all the while. He realized that his compliments had turned the situation down a rather inconvenient path. He gently removed himself from her and took a few steps backwards towards Kirchoff.

The female Xeno looked confused. _You do not like me?_

_I do like you,_ Valen blustered,_ but not in the sense of mating._

_Why? You do not like mating?_

_Well I do like mating, but I like don't like mating with females._

_Ah, I see,_ she said wistfully. _Then let us kill the human and we can rest._

_Ah, yes,_ Valen replied nervously, _About that. You see, I would rather keep this particular human alive._

The female Xeno looked at him in shock. _You want him alive?_

_Yes… You see, he kept me alive when the other humans would have killed me and…_

_You are attached to the human! _she exclaimed.

_Yes, in a sense, but as I said…_

She cut him off by hissing at him. _You are not good. _

_Not good huh,_ he snorted,_ I'm _so_ offended._

_I kill you,_ she spat, _After I kill the human._

_I'm afraid I can't let you do that missy._

With a screech, she dashed to the left to try and dart around Valen and get to Kirchoff, who was still sitting dazed against the wall behind him. He reacted as soon as she made her move. Instead of dashing left after her, he simply used his tail to sweep Kirchoff to the right. As quick as he could, he spun around as struck the female Xeno in the back of the head with his tail. The momentum of the hit and her own body sent her slamming head first into the wall and she slumped to the ground. Valen let out a satisfied snort and walked over to her limp form to check if she was still breathing. Much to his displeasure, she was.

_I guess I'll just have to deal with this._

He leaned in close to her head and spoke quietly to her, as if he were whispering in her ear. _Listen, and listen well missy. Nothing you can do or say will reconcile your actions today. You attempted to harm the one being that makes my life worth living in this forsaken hell hole, and you must be duly punished._

A weak hiss escaped her maw.

_Begging won't save you now._ With one quick, concise motion, Valen drove the sharp blade on the end of his tail deep into the female Xeno's throat. She bucked and gurgled briefly, but soon enough she went limp. Satisfied she was finally dead, he withdrew his pointed tail from her neck and watched as a gush of her green blood pooled on the floor. Turning his back on the corpse, he wiped his tail off as best he could and walked over to Kirchoff. He was still dazed, but he was sitting up on his own and looking around the room. His gaze fell on Valen and he saw the look of surprise and relief that crossed Kirchoff's face.

"Valen… you're alive!" he slurred excitedly. He tried to stand up, but he just fell flat on his ass.

Valen chuckled. _Yes, I'm alive, but you'd better calm down before you have a heart attack._

"I thought they were torturing you," tears welled in his eyes as he spoke, "I thought they were going to kill you…"

Valen scooped up Kirchoff in a bear hug._ I'm fine, they haven't hurt me. I was more worried about what was happening to you._

Kirchoff responded by burying his face into Valen's chest. Valen purred contentedly and carried Kirchoff to the corner of the room furthest away from the body of the female Xenomorph. He laid down on his side with Kirchoff in his arms and curled around him protectively, wrapping his tail around himself as he did so.

_Go to sleep Kirchoff, I will stay awake._

"Okay," he mumbled, his face still buried in Valen's bony chest. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh as he settled down to sleep.

Valen rubbed his head against Kirchoff's affectionately and rested his head next to his. Kirchoff drifted off to sleep, but Valen stayed awake, making sure that nothing bad would happen to Kirchoff. All was quiet for several hours, but a quiet hissing sound roused his attention.

_Kirchoff, wake up!_ he shouted, shaking him. Kirchoff just mumbled something incoherent and shifted his position in his arms. Valen felt light headed as the gas began to take effect.

_They're trying… to gas us… wake up…_ but by the time Valen had finished his sentence, he could barely stay awake. Valen flopped on the floor, as the gas took effect and he blacked out.

* * *

Gotta love that gas ;P

Please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	6. Chapter 6

Welcome my pretties. I'm sorry for the long delay, but life had been hectic and annoying recently, which really cuts into writing time.

Now sit back, relax and enjoy! ENJOY DAMNIT!

* * *

"Rise and shine Kirchoff," a voice said. "You have a busy day ahead of you." A light was switched on and Kirchoff flinched as the bright light shone through his eyelids.

"No… I don't want to..." he mumbled.

"Get up!" A hand slapped his face, startling him into consciousness. Due to the extremely bright light, he couldn't see much of his immediate surroundings.

"What is… going on?" he mumbled, a bit louder this time.

"Don't worry your silly little head about that," the voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar, but his mind was so foggy that he couldn't put his finger on it. He felt hands running across his head and arms, strapping small things to his arms and head. Kirchoff tried to raise his head and see what they were doing, but his head was strapped down. He wriggled his arms and legs experimentally and found that they were also bound. Kirchoff struggled weakly against his restraints, but it was futile.

"Help…" he whispered. "Someone… help me…"

A sharp stab in his arm made him wince, then the fuzzy feeling he was trying to fight off returned, stronger than before, dragging him towards unconsciousness.

"Enjoy your nap Kirchoff," the voice told him. "It won't be pleasant for long."

* * *

The loud siren roused Valen from his position on the floor. He wasn't curled up in the corner, but laid out neatly on his stomach in the middle of the room. Valen tried to stand up, but his arms and legs were so weak that all he could do was lie on the floor and stare blankly at the room in front of him. It looked the same as before, white, blank and uninteresting. He stared at the wall for a long time, and as he stared he couldn't help but feel that something was off about the room. It didn't look any different from the day before, but the room just didn't feel the same as it had yesterday. Valen pondered the issue, all the while staring forwards at the wall in front of him.

Over an hour passed and Valen had still not moved from his spot on the floor. By now the drugs had worn off and he could think clearly again. The nagging feeling in the back of his mind had not left with the sleeping drug and other thoughts had seeped into his mind.

_Kirchoff… Where have they taken you…_ He heaved a sigh. The brief moment of joy that he had felt when he was reunited with Kirchoff had long since evaporated. The other humans could be doing any number of things to him right now and there was nothing he could do about it. Valen continued to stare at the wall, wallowing in misery. Then all of a sudden, Valen realised what had been bothering him about the room since he woke up. The room he was the same one he was yesterday. He could tell by the faint smears of dried blood on the floor left by his fight with the other Xenomorph, but the wall directly in front of him was about fifteen feet closer to the other wall than it had been previously. Valen stood up and walked along the length of the wall. Sure enough, he found a bloodstain that was half hidden underneath the wall. In a spirit of experimental curiosity, Valen raked his claws along the surface of the mysterious moving wall. His claws didn't leave a single mark on it's smooth surface. Next Valen slashed the wall to his left with his claws. This time, they left small but visible scratches along it's surface.

_So what's on the other side of this wall?_

He paced in along the length of the wall and waited for something to happen.

_I wonder what tricks they have in store this time,_ he said to himself. _Maybe the wall will explode, or it might even spray more toxic gas. Who knows, it might shock me any time now!_

Out of nowhere another siren blared out, forcing Valen to cover his ears with his hands and curl up into a ball until it stopped. When the siren ceased, Valen saw that the wall had turned transparent and what he saw on the other side certainly shocked him. In a chair in the middle of the enclosed area on the other side of the wall was Kirchoff. His arms and legs were bound with a series of metal restraints and a single strap restrained his head and body. His eyes were closed but Valen could see his mouth was moving ever so slightly. Valen pressed his head against the section of wall closest to Kirchoff.

_Kirchoff!_ Valen shouted mentally. _Kirchoff, can you hear me?_

"Ah Valen, I see you're awake," a familiar voice said over the hidden speakers. A slim figure walked into the room. Valen hissed at the plain woman as she walked over to Kirchoff's chair and stood beside him.

"How are you doing Valen?" she asked. Her voice sounded from the speakers in the wall. "The accommodations are more than adequate I trust."

Valen hissed viciously in response. He raked the wall with his claws and smashed his tail against the floor as a sign of aggression. The woman only tutted and shook her head.

"Now now Valen, don't worry. You aren't at risk of any harm."

Valen stopped attacking the room, but kept up a low hissing. He wasn't going to let his guard down completely.

"However your friend Kirchoff here," She patted Kirchoff on the cheek. "Isn't so lucky."

Valen's hissing petered out as the meaning of her words registered. If he wasn't going to be tortured, that meant that Kirchoff…

The woman calmly and deliberately reached behind herself and revealed a small rectangular object with a series of small buttons on it's surface. She stood back from Kirchoff's chair and pressed a button. Kirchoff jerked and shouted as electricity sparked from the metal bands on his body. Valen let out a screech of desperation. He clawed at the transparent wall, slashed at it with his tail and even tried to climb it. In a final act of desperation, Valen reached out with his mind into Kirchoff's. He only made a brief contact before he shrieked in agony. The pain Kirchoff felt was so intense that he couldn't keep the connection going. He could do nothing but watch helplessly as Kirchoff was electrocuted in front of him.

The woman, who was watching the whole scene with a look of bland amusement, pressed another button on her remote and the electricity ceased. Kirchoff slumped against his restraints. His hair was smoking slightly and his breathing was shallow, but he was still alive.

"That was only the lowest setting," the woman said to Valen. He was pressing his head against the glass, trying desperately to talk with Kirchoff. All he got out of the man was a faint feeling of recognition.

"I admire your efforts, but it would be futile to try and communicate with him in this state. He'll be incapacitated for hours." She put her remote in her pocket and from pulled out a needle from another. It was empty, but the woman pulled out a vial from the same pocket as the needle. The woman held it up to the light and and peered at it's contents.

"This chemical will not kill your beloved Kirchoff," she said. "But it does cause unbearable pain for hours after administration."

Valen turned his gaze to the woman. His whole body trembled. It was one thing to torture him, but to harm Kirchoff was unforgivable. He opened his mouth and poured all the pent up hatred and anger he felt for Kirchoff's tormentor into a deafening, bloodcurdling scream. It went on and on, loud and strong enough to make the walls vibrate.

* * *

Dr. Nigel dashed her headset from her ears. She could see everything that was going on in the room from a set of monitors on one of the walls of her small personal laboratory situated in a room behind her office. One by one, the view in the monitors wavered, then the lenses in the hidden cameras shattered and gave the room a fuzzy, fractured appearance. She took a step back from the monitors and rubbed her temples to try and get rid of the sudden headache caused by the terrible noise Valen had made. Even though she had only heard the muffled version produced by the headphones, the sound she had heard had pierced her eardrums like a pair of hot irons.

While Nigel rubbed her ears she looked down at a table strewn with various papers, audio logs and half eaten lunches. On this table was the cumulative effort of eight years of tedious research, all focused on one particular objective. The drawn out experiment she had been responsible for running was dubbed Project Cantharides. It was an experiment devised by Dr. Gavin and herself to determine the spectrum of emotions that Xenomorphs were capable of displaying and how well they could control them. In other words it was a very long, very complicated emotional intelligence test. The original concept of the experiment was to find the most suitable Xenomorph cantidades through a series of tests with various researchers, then have them bond over a period of time and put them though a series of tests together to test their emotional reactions.

However, one big hiccup that no one anticipated managed to throw the experiment completely off course. That of course was Valen's unusual affection for Kirchoff. No one had expected for Valen to bond so closely with a human. And not just a human, but a human responsible for torturing and punishing him. She suspected that the odd couple's relationship had to do with Kirchoff's rather unorthodox methods of studying and communicating with Valen. She knew when Kirchoff was entrusted with Valen that he was able to communicate with his former researchers to some degree, but Kirchoff seemed particularly sensitive to this phenomenon. He had made no direct correlation between his research and Valen's ability to telepathically communicate, but she drew her own conclusions and had the good sense to keep them to herself.

If she had to guess, Valen and Kickoff talked about their feelings until one day Valen fell in love with Kirchoff, like in a cheesy romance novel or something. Whatever the reason, it had caused her no end of trouble despite the astounding implications. When given the choice of either the other Xenomorph candidate chosen, who Dr. Nigel had named Valencia, or Kirchoff, Valen had chosen Kirchoff without hesitation and had killed Valencia to boot. Half of the initial phase of the project and eight years of work went right down the crapper. This put her in a complicated situation, since she had no desire to hurt Kirchoff, but could find no other way of proceeding with the experiment without doing so.

Dr. Nigel let out a sigh. It was such a shame that Kirchoff had to be hurt in this way. She genuinely liked the man, both as a friend and as a scientist. Despite this, the experiment had to be carried out regardless of her own desires. She turned her attention back to the fractured view of the room through the monitor and could vaguely make out Julianne holding up a vial filled with a pain inducing chemical. If the electrocution failed to produce a reaction in Valen, the next step would be to inject Kirchoff with a drug that would cause him pain for hours on end. Dr. Nigel thought about the horrid sound Valen had made. That alone was proof enough for her. She held a headphone close to her ear to check if Valen was still screaming, but he had thankfully stopped. She placed the headphones over her head and spoke into a microphone located on the side of the headphones.

"Julianne, can you hear me?"

* * *

Valen had stopped screaming and was grinding his claws against the wall while glaring at the woman with all the hatred he could muster. She was still standing next to Kirchoff with the vial in one hand and the needle in the other. If she wanted to, she could have injected Kirchoff as soon as she stopped talking, but she appeared to be waiting for something.

"Julianne, can you hear me?" A voice said over the speakers.

_Julianne,_ Valen thought. _Julianne… What an interesting name..._

Julianne remained stony faced on the other side of the transparent wall. She pressed two fingers into her ear and spoke. "Yes Dr. Nigel."

"We've done enough, let Kirchoff go," Dr. Nigel said.

"What?" Julianne looked shocked. "I was under the impression that we were going to do the full set of tests…"

"If we didn't find the results we wanted after the initial test." Dr. Nigel cut in. "I believe that the data we have is more than sufficient. Now, release Kirchoff and report to my office now."

"Ma'am, I must disagree with you on this issue. We cannot be certain of the subject's reaction until we perform the full range of tests."

"We have enough, Julianne." Dr. Nigel said more forcefully. "Report to my office immediately."

"Ma'am, I will not decrease the validity of our data by omission of necessary experiments."

"Julianne! I order you to report to my office now!"

"Very well ma'am." Julianne turned her back to Valen as if she were leaving, but she turned around again with the needle raised in her hand.

"Julianne," Dr. Nigel's voice was laced with suspicion. "What are you doing?"

Julianne ignored Dr. Nigel and faced Kirchoff who was still lying limp in his chair. His chest rose and fell in short, fluttering bursts.

"Julianne, if you're doing what I think you're doing, then I will have you…" Her voice cut out when Julianne took the needle, jabbed it into Kirchoff's arm and depressed the plunger. Kirchoff writhed and moaned weakly as the drug worked it's way into his system. Julianne took out her remote and pressed another button. The restraints on Kirchoff's body retracted into the chair and he slumped onto the floor. Julianne nodded and walked over to a wall, where a panel slid open to a long, dark hallway. Just before she left, she pressed another button on the remote over her shoulder. The semi invisible wall that separated Valen from the other side of the room began to slide silently down into the floor. Unwilling to wait for the wall to fully lower, Valen backed up and took a running leap at the wall. He didn't manage to jump over it, but he latched onto the lip of the wall with his claws and vaulted himself over. He landed next to Kirchoff who was groaning weakly in a ball on the floor. Not wanting to cause Kirchoff any more discomfort, Valen gently dragged Kirchoff away from the chair with his tail and curled himself around him. He pressed his forehead into Kirchoff's hair, trying to be as close to him as possible as the chemical burned through his veins.

* * *

"God damnit!" Dr. Nigel slammed her fists on her desk, sending papers a few stray papers onto the floor. "Why the fucking hell did you inject him?!"

"I deemed it necessary for the integrity of the experiment." Julianne said in her usual monotone voice.

"I explicitly ordered you to stop the trial and come to my office." Dr. Nigel shouted. "You disobeyed a direct order from your superior!"

"No," Julian interjected.

"What?"

"You ordered that I report to your office. You did not at any point say to stop the trial."

Dr. Nigel went silent, staring at her hands and mulling over what Julianne had said. "Be that as it may, I still ordered you to release Kirchoff and immediately report to me, which you did not do."

She looked up at Julianne, "You do realize I will have to reprimand you."

"I am aware."

"Very good. From now on you are no longer an active member of Project Cantharides. You will report to information technology services for reprogramming and reassignment tomorrow at eight hundred hours."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now get out of my sight."

Julianne turned on her heels and walked out of the room. Dr. Nigel stood still at her desk, staring down at the papers strewn messily over her desk.

* * *

I want to extend a big thank you to all the people who have reviewed and messaged me. You guys are awesome for being so supportive of my work and have given me so many ideas.

As always, please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	7. Chapter 7

All he felt was pain. The sensation was similar to that of scalding his hand on a hot plate when he was a kid living in the colonies, but this was a whole new level of agony. It felt like all the blood in his body had been replaced with boiling water. Every beat of his heart sent a fresh wave of burning pain through his body. He could

The passage of time went unnoticed by Kirchoff. The only thing that registered was the pain, but eventually, the searing sensation began to ebb. His other senses slowly began to come back. The first thing that returned was his sense of smell, and with it came an intense metallic odor. Soon after his taste returned and it tasted like he hadn't brushed his teeth in a week and the ringing in his ears showed that at least he didn't lose his hearing. Once the ringing died down slightly, Kirchoff could pick up a faint breathing. It took some time to fix the location in his mind, but it appeared to be coming from just beside his head. The sound was vaguely familiar and comforting. He laid still until a tingling sensation started running over his body. It felt pleasant at first, but the tingling quickly turned into a sharper pain. It felt as if his entire body had fallen asleep on him. He writhed in discomfort which only made the prickling sensation worse. As he did so he noticed that he was surrounded by something. It felt smooth and hard, but warm from where something had been pressed against it.

His wiggling had an effect on the thing that was surrounding him. It moved in response to his touch, unfurling itself and pressing against his head.

_Kirchoff,_ A voice sounded in his head. He didn't hear it per se, but it sounded familiar. _Kirchoff, can you hear me?_

_Who's there? _he thought sluggishly.

Kirchoff felt a feeling of hurt and worry from the thing in his head._ Kirchoff it's me, Valen._

_Valen… _the name floated in his head. _Valen… Valen! Valen, what's going on? Where am I?_

_Calm down,_ Valen said._ You're going to have a heart attack._

He tried to say the words out loud, but they just wouldn't come. _Where are we?_ he asked mentally.

_Open your eyes stupid,_ Valen said with a hint of annoyance.

Kirchoff cracked his eyelids open a fraction and was blinded by a light so intense it brought tears to his eyes. He put his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes to try and dull the pain.

"Aaah!" he shouted.

_What's wrong?_ asked Valen. The annoyance in his voice had been replaced with concern.

_It's too bright, I can't see, _Kirchoff told him.

_That's odd. It isn't that bright in here._

_Wait, Valen… How long was I out?_

_I can't say for sure, _Valen said. _But I think it's been two or three days._

_Three days!_

_Hey, it might have been two._

Kirchoff didn't respond. Three days. He had been out for three days. Keeping one hand over his eyes, he propped himself up into a sitting position. When he did the horrible prickling sensation returned. Kirchoff moved one leg in a spirit of curiosity. This time he noticed that only parts of his skin that hurt were the parts in contact with his pant leg.

_Valen, have any of the humans visited?_

_No, they didn't want to enter the chamber._

_Why not?_ Kirchoff inquired. _They could have just gassed us and it would have been no trouble._

_I don't think they wanted to hurt you further._

_Hurt me further?_

Valen was quiet for a second. _Kirchoff, how much of the past few days can you remember?_

_I… I remember the woman talking to me… Being reunited with you… I think I was strapped into a chair and then… pain. All I can remember is pain._

_Do you want me to tell you what happened?_

_No, I think I can do without that information for now,_ He pondered a though for a little while. _You _can_ answer me this. Did you stay by my side the whole time I was out?_

_Yes,_ Valen said, almost sheepishly. _I was afraid something might happen to you if I left you._

_Thank you. That was really sweet of you._

_You are welcome._ Kirchoff felt Valen's head rub against his and felt him purring. Kirchoff braced himself for the prickling sensation to return, but it didn't come.

* * *

Dr. Nigel was sitting in her private laboratory at the table strewn with reports. She had never been a particularly organized person, and that made it more than a bit hard to track down documents when she needed them. However, it wasn't the reports that occupied her attention. She was looking intently at one of the monitors on the wall that gave her a clear fractured view of the room Valen and Kirchoff were being held in. Valen had wrapped himself protectively around Kirchoff's vulnerable form after his torture and hadn't moved since. From this angle she could get a glimpse at Kirchoff, wrapped up in Valen's embrace.

She rubbed her tired baggy eyes and took a gulp of coffee directly from a pot sitting on the table. Over the past three days, she had been observing Valen and Kirchoff nonstop, constantly watching for any change in Kirchoff's condition. By the looks of it hadn't handled his torture very well. Both of the tests that were performed were designed to be used on Xenomorphs. She had no idea what effect this might have had on his body, and she hadn't dared risk trying to remove him for fear of what the sleeping gas would do to him.

A flash of movement on the screen caught her attention. It was brief, but there was definitely movement in the chamber. She leaned in close to the monitor to try and get a better look. Even though the image was disrupted by the cracks in the camera's lens, she could see that Kirchoff had started to move. He wasn't moving very much, just wiggling faintly inside Valen's embrace, but he was definitely moving. As she watched Kirchoff slowly roused and sat up. Dr. Nigel heaved a sigh of relief. He was going to be okay. The headset she usually wore was lying discarded amidst the papers on the table. She hurriedly put them on and pressed the siren button to give the two a heads up.

Valen showed hi usual display of discomfort, putting his hands up to his ear holes and hissing in annoyance. She chuckled a bit at his antics, but her laughter stopped when she looked over at Kirchoff.

* * *

Kirchoff felt like two spikes were being driven into his ears. The sound of the siren was so loud that he was forced to cover his ears and curl into a ball to try and blot out the ear splitting noise. He felt Valen try to contact him mentally, but he couldn't maintain it more than a couple seconds before retreating. Fortunately, the siren was mercifully short and it cut out after only a was at his side almost immediately, gently nudging him with his head.

_Get up Kirchoff,_ he sounded worried. _Get up!_

Cautiously, he removed his hands from his ears and sat up from his position on the floor.

_Valen, what was that? _Kirchoff asked

_That was the siren they sound when they want to get our attention._

_Is it always so fucking loud?_

_It's loud certainly, but it's not that loud, _Valen sounded a little concerned. _Are you okay?_

_I don't know, _Kirchoff replied._ Everything feels more intense…_

"Kirchoff," a voice blared out over the speakers. "Can you hear me?"

The sudden spike of pain the sudden sound brought on made Kirchoff almost pass out. His eyes rolled under his eyelid and he collapsed on his back. Valen hissed in alarm and wrapped himself protectively around Kirchoff.

Kirchoff lay in Valen's embrace, dazed. Something was definitely wrong. He had never been incapacitated like this before, even after he had been gassed and drugged. If a single loud sound could knock him unconscious, what else could do the same?

"Kirchoff," the voice boomed over the speakers. "Are you alright? Can you speak?"

He flinched at the noise and pain spiked through his head, although not as bad as before since Valen's body was insulating him from the sound.

"Kirchoff, can you hear me?"

With a great effort, he opened his mouth and shouted as loud as he could, "Shut up!"

The energy it took to yell made his head throb and coherent thought was impossible. While he recuperated he heard Valen in his head, quietly speaking soothing words and comforting him as best he could.

* * *

When Kirchoff collapsed to the ground, Valen felt like his heart had stopped. He had seen him brutalized so much over the last few days that any amount of pain Kirchoff felt was cause for concern. In an instant he curled around Kirchoff protectively to shield him from the sound the idiotic human speaking over the microphone. If his memory held firm, the woman speaking was the Dr. Nigel he had heard Julianne arguing with during Kirchoff's torture session. The thick witted imbecile clearly couldn't see the level of pain she was causing Kirchoff because she spoke again in a voice loud enough to make him wince.

"Kirchoff, are you alright? Can you speak?"

Valen felt Kirchoff recoil at the woman's voice. In an attempt to tell the voice to shut the hell up, he raised his head and extended his inner mouth silently. It didn't work.

"Kirchoff, can you hear me?" The woman shouted.

"Shut up!" shouted Kirchoff. His voice was incredibly ragged and hoarse, but the idiot on the microphone seemed to get the hint and shut up. Both Kirchoff and Valen laid in blissful silence for a long time. When Valen made contact with Kirchoff's mind, it was a blur of half formed thoughts and emotions. Whatever the sound did to him, it was severe. He did his best to comfort Kirchoff, speaking softly to him and caressing his head. Eventually, Kirchoff's roiling consciousness began stabilize into coherent thoughts.

_Valen._ Even his mental voice sounded weak and raspy. _Can you write?_

_Write?_ Valen had no idea. _What do you mean?_

_Can you write a sentence?_

_I'm not sure. I've never done it before._

_Can you write a word?_ he asked. _It's important._

_Maybe,_ He was very doubtful of ability to write, but if Kirchoff thought it important then he had to try._ What do you want me to write?_

* * *

Dr. Nigel was sitting in a chair directly in front of the monitor. She didn't dare take her eyes off of the screen. Kirchoff's reaction and outburst had revealed just how potentially bad the torture had affected him. She wanted to get him out of the chamber and have him examined, but there would be no way of safely extracting him while Valen was there. If she had to guess, anyone who entered the cell would get torn to shreds by Valen. All she could do was wait. It took a long time, but eventually she saw Valen unfurl himself from around Kirchoff and walked to the wall near the center of the room. She watched him as intently, wondering what he was going to do. He paced back and forth along the wall, then he slashed repeatedly at it with his claws leaving a rough yet distinct series of lines on the wall. When he was done, he backed off to admire his handiwork. She peered at the marking closely. It looked like a load of gibberish, and the cracks in the camera's lense didn't help. Valen tilted his head in Kirchoff's direction, then went back to work clawing away at the wall.

Over the next little while, she watched him as he carved multiple lines and squiggles into the side of the wall under Kirchoff's direction. She could tell since Valen looked over to him periodically as if waiting for instructions. In no time Valen finished his work and stepped back. Dr. Nigel leaned forwards until her face was only a few feet from the looked hard at the lines and squiggles on the wall, trying to look for any meaning in them. They made absolutely no sense, except for one at the end, which she could have sworn looked like… a D. There at the end was a rough yet clearly visible capital D.

"Well, well," she said to herself. "This is interesting." Since she didn't dare speak again, she would have to decipher this word herself. Now that she knew the scribbles were letters

"KE… Y… BOA… R… D," she muttered. "Keyboard? What on earth did he mean by… oh! That clever son of a bitch. I didn't think of that."

Dr. Nigel rushed out of her lab and back to her office. She shifted the papers on her desk until she uncovered her intercom she used for conversations better left off official audio records.

"Stephenson, I want you to bring be a set of 2-way communication monitors from the hospital," she told the intercom.

"Um, very well ma'am," the man Stephenson. "May I ask why?"

"No you may not," she replied. "Now go get me those tablets. And if anyone asks why you're getting them, say that they're defective and being scraped."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

As always, please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	8. Chapter 8

Valen watched silently as the fake wall slid back up into position. He would have dearly loved to hide behind the door and rip the woman's throat out when she appeared, but Kirchoff told him to wait with him. Dr. Nigel had briefly talked over the speakers in a muted voice about her plan, which Kirchoff and Valen agreed to with quiet nods. Valen glanced down at Kirchoff who was standing shakily with both his hands up against his shiny black hide. Although he had been recovering remarkably fast, he was still very weak and sensitive. Any sort of loud noise caused his extreme discomfort and he had to squint in order to look around the room.

He had also removed almost all of his clothing except for the garments covering his private area. Kirchoff explained that it itched like crazy whenever his clothes rubbed against his skin and Valen could see the rash all over his body that he got from his clothing. Although it made Kirchoff feel better, it was hard for Valen to ignore the rather noticeable bulge in Kirchoff's undergarments. He caught himself catching glances down at his crotch before looking away hurriedly. Now was not the time or place. Valen told himself this repeatedly, but it didn't make it any easier to resist staring.

His attention was drawn away from Kirchoff when a door opened up on their side of the room. It was only raised about 6 inches, so there was so opportunity for escape there. A thin black pad was shoved through the crack and the door swiftly shut.

_Can you get that? _Kirchoff asked.

_Fine, but sit down first. You'll fall over._

_I'll be fine._

Valen snorted. _And I'm not moving until you sit down and get comfortable._

_Alright._ Kirchoff obediently sat down with his legs crossed.

_I said comfortable,_ Valen said. Kirchoff laid down on the floor and waved his arms back and forth like he was making a snow angel.

_Happy now?_

_I said get comfortable, not have a fit._

Kirchoff sat back up and looked at Valen irritatedly. _Just get the tablet. _

Obediently, Valen walked over to the small black monitor on the floor and slid it over to Kirchoff. He picked it up and held it close to his face. It was an unremarkable thing, about eight inches long on both sides with a thin body and a flat touch screen. It was modeled after the ancient cell phone technology developed on earth over a century ago. Nevertheless it was effective at what it did. It was used to communicate with hospital patients who couldn't or were forbidden to speak. He fumbled around with the sides of the tablet until his fingers stumbled on the power button. He pressed it and was blinded by the sudden brightness of the screen. He tilted it away and waited until the glow projected on his hands dimmed before tilting it towards his face again. The light still hurt, but it was bearable. On the bottom half of the screen was a keyboard complete with symbols and numbers. The top half was left blank for text.

Kirchoff fiddled around with the brightness settings for a bit, then typed out a message on the pad.

SYS: Communication Opened.

K: You can come in now. We're ready.

The door behind the transparent wall and Dr. Nigel came through, dragging a chair on wheels behind her with one hand and a black tablet identical to Kirchoff's in the other. She walked up to the wall, sat herself down on her chair and began to type rapidly.

N: How are you? Are you okay?

_Are you okay?_ Valen snorted. _What kind of a question is that._

Kirchoff just shook his head and typed.

K: Can you turn down the lights. It's too bright in here.

N: Yes. Give me a second.

She pulled a black remote out of her pocket and pressed a button several times. The lights in the room dimmed until it was almost in darkness

N: Is that better?

K: Much better. I can open my eyes all the way now.

N: What's wrong with your eyes. I can barely see anything.

K: Really? Everything looks normal to me.

She peered at him through the darkness.

N: Tell me. What exactly has changed since you were tested.

K: You mean tortured?

N: Yes, what has changed since you were tortured.

Kirchoff looked at Valen who was busy cleaning himself. _What?_

_Stop that, it's distracting._

_Oh, distracting am I?_

_Yes, please stop it._

_No. You're distracting me from my cleaning._

Kirchoff groaned aloud._ Dear God, I forgot how annoying you can be sometimes._

_You're one to talk. Scaring me half to death these past few days._

_That wasn't my fault!_

_No, but you were still annoying._

_How?_

_You just were._

_Gah! Will you be quiet!_

_No._

N: Are you quite done there?

Kirchoff looked over at Dr. Nigel who was looking at them with a bemused expression. Their mental argument must not have been as discreet as he thought even in the near darkness.

N: I can see you two are still getting used to living with each other. How's the conversation?

K: You know about that?

N: Of course I do. You aren't the only scientist Valen has been assigned to you know. He's got quite a track record.

K: So I've heard.

N: However, you still haven't answered my question. What's happened to you? The intercom isn't so loud that it should knock you unconscious.

K: The best way to describe it is that everything feels more intense.

N: Intense, how so?

K: Umm, how do I put this…

He thought it over for a bit before answering.

K: All of my senses seem to be running on overdrive. Tastes and smells are more pungent, sounds are louder, my eyes and skin are more sensitive. I can't even wear my regular clothes because it itches too much.

The look on Dr. Nigel's face wasn't encouraging.

N: Kirchoff, we need to get you to an examination room. You could have some really bad nerve damage.

K: No.

N: No? Why no?

K: In case you forgot, you ordered my torture several days ago and apparently gave me nerve damage. Why on earth would I just blindly trust you? For all I know you'll just hurt me or Valen again. I won't leave him.

N: No Kirchoff, I promise I won't use you again. This is for your own good. The electrocution and the chemicals clearly did something to your system. If we act now we might be able to diagnose you and start treatment.

K: No. Unless you send doctors in here to examine me with Valen present, I'm not doing shit.

N: You know that no one will do that.

K: Then I'm not leaving.

N: Kirchoff please. It's for your own good.

K: I'm doing what's best for me and Valen. I'm not leaving.

Sr. Nigel stopped typing and looked up at him.

N: You really do care about what happens to Valen, don't you.

K: Why wouldn't I?

N: Because he's a Xenomorph.

K: That's it? That's your reason? Dr. Nigel, that's pathetic. If being a stereotypical Xenomorph was the only unique thing about Valen, he would be dead right now and I would have been fired a long time ago. Stop trying to convince me to leave Valen. If you want to do something to him, you'll have to do it to me too.

N: I see. Well, what's to stop me from injecting you with more of the pain serum we used before? We'd technically be advancing our research and it would be much more unpleasant for you.

K: You won't do that. You can't make me do anything against my will.

N: Really? And why is that?

K: Because I'm so frail at the moment I'd probably die if you so much as sneezed on me. If I kick the bucket, your little experiment, what was it called, Project Cantharides, will have been for naught and you'll lose everything. You need Valen, and by extension me if your little experiment is going to pay off. You can't touch me without great risk to your own well being.

Dr. Nigel was shocked by his stunning clarity. It was true, if she attempted to hurt Kirchoff he had a high risk of dying. If that happened, Valen would have to be executed and 8 years of work would be flushed down the shitter. Anything she did to separate them wouldn't accomplish anything at this point, and besides, did she really want to hurt Kirchoff? She had seen in his reports what an intelligent man he was and she could see his concern for Valen was genuine. Hell, even Valen held a special little place in her heart. She had personally raised and studied him for the first two years of his life.

_There must really be something special going on between those two,_ she thought.

_Valen, you're brilliant,_ Kirchoff thought.

_I thought that was obvious,_ he replied. _But thank you anyways._

_I mean it!_ he gushed._ That was awesome. I couldn't have worded it better myself._

_I've been told I drive a hard bargain._

_I never said that._

_No, but you've thought it._

_I can never have any real privacy with you can I?_

_No, not really._

Kirchoff looked back over at Dr. Nigel. She was still sitting with the same expression of shock on her face when she read Valen's message. Of course he didn't tell her it was from Valen, but that made it all the more effective. She clearly thought of herself as an exceptional dealmaker, but she had never had an argument with anyone the same caliber as Valen.

K: So, what are your thoughts?

It was a long time before she responded. Kirchoff leaned back up against Valen who was curled up behind him. When she finally responded, she chose her words carefully.

N: This is my proposal. In exchange for your's and Valen's guaranteed safety and comfort, you have to keep participating in my little project. None of the tests you will undergo will be designed to harm or torture information or reactions out of you in any way. To use those methods now would be barbaric and counterproductive. In addition, Kirchoff, you must have weekly checkups with my personal physician to monitor your condition. I don't want you to keel over and die on us.

_Well, what do you think?_ he asked Valen.

_It seems a reasonable agreement,_ he sniffed. _We could use some better living quarters though if the two of us are going to end up living together._

_Who says we'll be living together?_

_I do,_ he let out a low growl. _And if you argue, I'm going to wrap you up and carry you around like a sack of potatoes.._

_Do you even know what potatoes are?_

_No, but I'll still wrap you up and carry you around like a sack of potatoes._

K: We agree, on one condition. Valen and I will share the same living quarters at all times. And not just an empty white room either, something comfortable and roomy. Xeno's aren't big fans of being cooped up for long periods of time.

N: Deal. Any other requests.

K: Can I get some food and water. I'm starving and my throat hurts.

N: I'll have something sent down. I'll make sure it's extra bland.

K: Thanks.

SYS: End communication.

Kirchoff turned off the tablet and slumped against Valen's body. He looked exhausted. It was no wonder why though. Kirchoff was still incredibly weak after his ordeal and even typing a conversation was tiring.

_Are you okay?_

_Yes Valen, I'm fine. You can stop asking that,_ he said. _I'm just tired._

_And everything hurts,_ Valen added.

_That too._

_And you're not sure if you'll ever recover._

_Yes, that too._

_And you'll never be able to live your childhood dream of becoming a professional ball…_

_No!_ Kirchoff exclaimed. _You promised to never bring that up again!_

_Just trying to cheer you up._

_Yeah, you're doing a bang up job._

_Was that sarcasm I heard?_

_Shut up._

_I think it was!_

The door on their side of the room opened up again. A bowl and a bottle of water were pushed through the crack.

_Do you mind?_ he asked Valen.

Valen let out a small hiss in annoyance, but he brought the bowl and the bottle over to Kirchoff. _Are you sure you want to eat this, it looks like a bowl of ground up rocks._

_Yeach, sounds like oatmeal._

Valen sniffed the contents of the bowl. _If that's what you eat,_ _then I'm glad I'm not a human._

_Let me at it. It should be enough to blot out the taste of my morning breath._ Kirchoff grabbed the spoon sticking out of the bowl and gave it a yank. It didn't budge. He tried twisting it, but it sprang back to it's original position. The food at the Bernard Research Station was relatively good, except for the oatmeal. It was infamous for being impossible to scoop into a spoon, let alone eat. There was even a tradition where new marine recruits had to eat an entire bowl of the stuff as a sort of initiation.

_Having trouble there? _Valen asked, swishing his tail back and forth in an amused fashion.

_Um, can you help me?_ he asked. Valen stopped swishing his tail and burst out in his weird hissing laugh. He tried to stop, but whenever he looked over at Kirchoff struggling with his spoon it made him laugh even harder.

_I'm being serious here,_ Kirchoff said indignantly.

Valen pulled himself together long enough to yank the spoon out of the oatmeal with one swift jerk of his hand, but he fell into hysterics again when he saw Kirchoff trying to eat it. He had stabbed the stuff with his spoon and ripped out a chunk and was trying to chew it.

_It tastes like rocks._ He told Valen. That only made him laugh harder. He was literally rolling around on the floor trying to catch his breath. _Do you have to be so loud? That hurts my ears._

_Stop being so entertaining then,_ he could barely get the words across. Kirchoff could feel his amusement, which made him smile._ You look ridiculous when you're laughing._

_Says the human trying who can't get his spoon out of his oatmeal._

_At least I have an excuse. You just look silly._ He took another bite of the oatmeal and gagged. _I can't eat this crap, it tastes awful._

_Have you ever tried eating raw octopus?_

_No._

_You shouldn't. It's slimy and disgusting._

_Did they feed you raw octopus before?_

_Yes, and it was slimy and disgusting._

Kirchoff chuckled. _I'm going to sleep._

Valen crept up behind him and pulled him into a hug._You know, for being an intelligent, ruthless killing machine, you sure are cuddly._ Valen purred in response and curled himself around his body protectively. Kirchoff pressed himself up against Valen's protruding ribs and sighed. It wasn't the most comfortable spot to be in, but it made him feel safe.

_Good night Valen._

_Good night Kirchoff._

Fun Fact: This was originally supposed to be part of chapter 7, but it was too long to fit in. That's why I released it so soon after the last one. Hope you liked it!

As always, please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everybody. Before you dive into this chapter I must inform you that there will be some very mature themes present in this chapter, namely mild violence and rape. If you feel uncomfortable with any of these subjects, I recommend you skip Kirchoff's memory sequence at the end of the chapter.

* * *

"Time to wake up," Dr. Nigel said over the intercom. Her voice sounded cheerful, almost giddy.

"Uuuugh," Kirchoff mumbled. _Let me sleep._

"Wake up sleepyheads," she said again, louder this time. "I've got a surprise for you."

Kirchoff's ears twinged with pain and he curled up trying to blot out the sound. He felt Valen curl up tighter around him. That made him smile a bit. It felt nice to have a familiar presence literally surrounding him after the events of the past few days.

"Get up you two," Dr. Nigel sounded less amused. "Or I'll turn the siren on."

Both Kirchoff and Valen half jumped up from their position on the floor. Kirchoff sat up while Valen laid back down on the floor and tried to go back to sleep.

"Ooooh," Kirchoff moaned. His head was throbbing and his skin felt raw and sore. _Everything hurts._

_Surprised?_ Valen didn't sound like his usual witty self. His mental voice was slower and somehow raspy. Valen picked up on Kirchoff's observation. _What? Can't I have a morning voice?_

_No. Well yes,_ he floundered._ It's just I didn't expect it, that's all._

Valen chuckled but didn't respond.

"How are you doing this morning Kirchoff?" Dr. Nigel asked. "Can you speak?"

His ears pricked, but Dr. Nigel was considerate enough to keep her voice down. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a series of quiet gargles. He looked around the floor nearby, but he couldn't see the black communication tablet anywhere. _Valen, where's my tablet?_

Valen shifted slightly and pulled the tablet out from under his chest and presented it to Kirchoff, holding it between two of his claws. He took it from him and noted the tiny scratch marks Valen's claws had left on it's surface.

SYS: Communication Opened.

K: I'm sore everywhere and I have a really bad headache.

N: You should be grateful that you can still sit up.

K: No thanks to you, filling me with chemicals and electricity and crap.

N: Kirchoff, I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. I was backed into a corner and I had to proceed with the experiment or Dr. Gavin would have shut down Cantharides. I promise you I won't do anything like that again.

K: Whatever you say doctor. What's the surprise you have for us?

N: I took some advice from one of the best experts in Xenomorph behaviour, and have assigned you and Valen new living quarters.

K: Expert in Xenomorph behaviour? Who?

N: You, Kirchoff. You know more than anyone else alive or dead about Xenomorph behaviour. I've been reading your reports for the past three years remember. I know that you're the best.

Kirchoff looked up at a corner where he knew a camera was hidden and raised his eyebrows.

K: So apparently I'm the greatest expert on Xenomorph behaviour alive _or _dead, and you have to torture me to find information about Xenomorph behaviour I could have easily told you?

N: We did find out what we wanted, but yes, we could have asked you. I can only say I'm sorry so many times. I didn't know what to do.

_She is terrible isn't she?_

_Yes, she is terrible,_ Valen said._ But there are others who are much worse than her. At least she feels remorseful for what she did to you. I can think of several other humans I have met who would love to harm you for having such an… intimate relationship with a Xenomorph._ He got up from his position on the floor and walked over to a corner of the room to clean himself.

K: So tell me about our new living quarters. Is it something roomy and open, or is it just an even larger white room.

N: I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I had to pull quite a few strings to get it, but I think you'll be impressed.

K: It'll take quite a bit to impress me at this point.

N: Then you won't be disappointed. You're going to be relocated in two hours, so prepare yourself. I'll have breakfast sent down to your room. Do you still want oatmeal?

K: I'd rather eat a bowl of rocks. It has a better texture.

N: I'll send down some dry toast and water.

K: Thank you.

N: You're welcome. I'll let you know when you're being transferred.

SYS: Communication Closed.

* * *

Valen was in the middle polishing his claws when Kirchoff finished his conversation with the Dr. Nigel woman. Ever since his torturing, Valen always kept contact with Kirchoff's mind whenever he could. It also spared him the trouble of asking Kirchoff what the conversation was about, it was much easier to listen in.

_So, new living quarters, _he commented._ Sounds exciting._

_Exciting is the last thing I want right now._ Kirchoff gently lowered himself down to lie on his back. _I just want some time to relax._

Valen was content to lie down next to Kirchoff and relax with him.

_Valen, what did you mean by the humans wanting to hurt me?_

_I mean that most humans don't understand my kind like you do. Dr. Nigel was probably right about you being the one person who knows more about Xenomorph behaviour than anyone else. Other humans don't understand us like you do, and as a result they fear you. Humans… no, any living thing in general, fears what it doesn't understand. There are a few exceptions, like Dr. Nigel, but I'd imagine other humans would take great pleasure in making you squirm._

_Is that why you want me to live with you?_

_It's one reason out of many,_ Valen said. It was then he realized that Kirchoff might not know the level affection he felt for him. It was obvious that Kirchoff trusted him, but he had no idea how Kirchoff felt towards him. Even with his ability to literally read minds, it was hard to identify specific emotions unless they were very strong and were being expressed when he was in contact with a persons mind. If Valen could look into his own mind, it would be hard for him to identify his affection towards Kirchoff unless he was thinking about Kirchoff and how strongly he felt towards him. It was a bit of a confusing concept and even Valen hadn't figured out all of it's intricacies yet.

The possibility of Kirchoff not reciprocating his feelings was something Valen needed time to think about, but now was not that time. He could sit down and work out his feelings later. _Anyways, what do you think our new home will be like?_

_I can't say for sure,_ Kirchoff said. _There are so many places on the station I haven't visited._

_Give me some possible options then._ Anything to distract him from his thoughts.

_Lets see. Well there aren't very many places in the facility that are designed to house Xenomorphs. There are several indoor farms, but I doubt they'd put us there. Not unless they want to lose all of their livestock._

_I wouldn't eat _all_ of the animals._ Kirchoff looked skeptically at Valen. _Okay, maybe I would. But not all at once._

_Of course,_ he said with a grin._ Let's see, what else is there. I know there are underground holding cells designed for particularly dangerous creatures._

_Do I qualify as a particularly dangerous creature?_ he asked, genuinely interested.

_I doubt it. _Kirchoff said.

_What?_ _I don't believe you._

_Some of the things they keep down there are so dangerous we technically aren't allowed to keep them in captivity for longer than two hours._

_Interesting... I might like to meet some of these creatures._

_Really? I've been down there twice, and both times it was for an experiment to find out what would happen in a Xenomorph was eaten by a local predator. It wasn't a pretty sight both times._

Valen's blood ran cold. If there was a creature that wanted to eat him, then he wanted nothing to do with it.

_Moving on,_ Valen said rather quickly. _Any other potential real estate?_

Kirchoff sat up and looked over at Valen. _Valen, how the hell do you know what real estate is?_

_Several of my previous researchers were absolutely terrible at their jobs, which meant that they are some of my favorite humans. Besides you._ Valen glanced at Kirchoff who was still looking quizzically at him. The brief eye contact made him feel flustered. He looked away and shuffled his body so that he was facing away from Kirchoff.

_Are you okay?_ Kirchoff shuffled closer and Valen backed away shyly.

_I'm the one who should be asking you that._

_Alright, you're just acting really... weird, _Kirchoff lowered himself back onto the floor._ And that's coming from the best expert in Xenomorph behaviour._

_I'm not acting weird!_ he exclaimed indignantly.

_You keep telling yourself that,_ he chuckled. _Whenever you want to tell me why you're acting weird…_

_Which I'm not._

_...I'll be happy to listen,_ Kirchoff finished._ Why don't you tell me more about your favorite humans. The ones besides me._

_Well… like I said, they were horrible at their jobs, which meant that they were often doing other things when they were supposed to be studying me. I usually tuned in to whatever they were doing when I was bored and that's how I learned almost everything I know about humans. I remember one researcher in particular was an avid reader whenever she wasn't blasting me with water jets._

_Really? Can you remember some of the books she read?_

_I remember one rather memorable book called "The Kama Sutra"._

_Okay,_ Kirchoff blustered. _I think I've heard enough._ He had read the antiquated book a long time ago when he was still a young, hormonal teenager and he did_ not_ want to have a discussion with Valen about it.

_So humans really do things like that to each other?_ he asked.

_Err… sometimes,_ he said. He felt hot and flustered just thinking about the contents of the book and it wasn't something he could even think about explaining to Valen without being embarrassed.

_Like when?_ he asked._ Are those normal mating rituals for humans._

_No… well, um… not usually.. but… err… sometimes humans like to… mate in different ways._

Valen still looked confused. _So Dr. Nigel likes those things?_

_Oh my god, she was the one reading that?_

_Yes, why? Does that surprise you?_

_I don't even want to think about that,_ Kirchoff rubbed his temples. _I'd have to kill myself to get that image out of my head._

_You want to kill yourself!_ Valen sounded incredibly alarmed.

_No no,_ Kirchoff said quickly. _I just meant that..._

_Don't joke about death like that!_ Valen shouted in his head. He still had a nasty headache and Valen's words in his mind made his head throb harder. Out of nowhere Valen pounced on Kirchoff, pinned his arms down with his clawed hands and sat himself on his legs. He brought his face close to his until he could smell his breath. It didn't smell as bad as he thought it would. In fact it had a faintly sweet scent to it.

_Calm down Valen,_ Kirchoff said as soothingly as he could. _I didn't mean it like that!_

_No! I won't calm down! _Valen screamed. Literally screamed. His inner mouth was extended so it was right above his and it was emitting a long, horrible, screeching wail. _I nearly lost you so many times over the past five days! Do you have any idea what it's like to almost lose the only person you care about?_

_As a matter of fact, yes. I do know what that's like,_ Kirchoff said in a deliberately calm voice. Valen stopped screaming and just stared at Kirchoff. Kirchoff could feel that he was still angry and upset, but he was also curious. He was giving him an opportunity to explain. However, that was a part of his past that he felt was better left untouched, but he could see no other way that Valen might let him go. _Before I was selected to work here on the Bernard Research Station, I had no one I cared about in my life. My mother was dead, my father refused to speak to me and my two brothers were drafted into the Colonial Marines. I was swamped in debt and I couldn't hold down a job for more than a month. Being a Xenologist doesn't exactly provide great employment opportunities. I had even contemplated suicide multiple times, but I could never bring myself to do it. Then I met someone who made me feel special. Someone who made me feel that my life was worth living after all… and then I lost them._

Valen showed no signs of moving. Kirchoff guessed he wasn't satisfied with his simple explanation. He heaved a sigh and continued. _Valen... I've never told anyone this story before, so please try not to interrupt me until I'm finished._

He took a deep breath, then began to speak._ I was just rejected for a weaponry research position with the military or something along those lines. I can't remember much from those days since I was drunk most of the time. _

_That night I went to a bar in a rough part of town. A real dirty place too, not somewhere anybody decent should be hanging after I got there some kind of gang fight broke out in the street outside. I heard shooting and shouting outside, so I thought it might be a good time to leave and I tried to leave through the back alley. Unfortunately for me, several gang members decided to wait in the exact same alley. They attacked me and… and..._

Kirchoff stopped speaking. He had repressed that particular memory for over ten years beneath a veil of alcohol and denial. Speaking about it openly for the first time made the memories of that horrible night come flooding back to the forefront of his mind.

* * *

Kirchoff stumbled out of the bar and into the alleyway. It was dark, smelly, humid and all around unpleasant. There were doorways that led to neighboring establishments along the walls of the alley and the floor was an assortment of trash, empty bottles and other things Kirchoff couldn't identify. He started to pick his way along the alley, trying his best to avoid the filth on the floor. Before he made his way to the end of the alley, a hand stabbed out of a doorway to his left and seized him by the shoulder.

"And where do ya think yer goin'?" a snarling voice asked. The hand on his shoulder yanked and Kirchoff tumbled off balance and slammed into a wall. He could barely see in the dim light of the alley, but there was enough for him to make out the silhouettes of two men. One was looked very thickset and the other one was tall and very skinny.

"Look at this one," the tall skinny one said with a high squeaky voice. "Quite the looker ain't he?"

"Eh, seen better," the other man replied. Compared to the tall man, the thickset man's voice was deep and raspy. "Still, he ain't half bad."

"Well, we gonna break 'im in?" the squeaky man asked. He sounded eager about something.

"Excuse me," Kirchoff said in a quiet voice.

"Oi Barry, you hearin' this faggot?"

"Yeah, sounds like quite the little bitch, doesn't he," Barry replied. "Hey faggot, are you a bitch?"

"What?"

Barry grabbed Kirchoff by the hair and pulled him to his feet. His face was uncomfortably close to Barry's. He could smell his breath. "I asked if you were a bitch. What, are you deaf too?"

"No," Kirchoff said. He was wincing from the Barry pulling on his hair.

"Oh, really. Ya' sure look like a bitch, faggot," Barry sneered.

"I'm not a faggot either," Kirchoff said through gritted teeth. Barry's grip on his hair was rock solid and it hurt like hell.

"Not a faggot? You hearin' this Tim?" Barry asked the other man. "Real piece of work."

Barry turned his attention back to Kirchoff. "Don't try an' lie to me. I know that you snuck outta that ratty-ass gay bar. I saw you m'self."

Kirchoff went pale. He had always tried to keep that tidbit of information a secret, but he supposed there was no point in trying to hide it. "Alright, fine. I'm gay. You happy now?"

"I will be in a minute once I'm done with you." Barry had an unpleasant slime on his face that gave Kirchoff the creeps. A second set of arms, probably belonging to Tim, grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back. Tim forced Kirchoff into a kneeling position on the filthy floor of the alley.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kirchoff asked. He was starting to panic now.

"I think you're smart enough to figure that out ya little bitch," Tim said menacingly from behind him. Kirchoff looked up at Barry's silhouette outlined by the light coming from the nearby street. The shadow reached down and Kirchoff heard the sound of a fly unzipping.

"No! Please no!" Kirchoff begged. He squirmed and writhed in the iron grip Tim had him in. "Please, I'll do anything!"

"Well then I hope you're good at blowin'," Barry chuckled. "Open up bitch."

Kirchoff clamped his mouth tight shut.

"C'mon, don't be like that." Barry rasped. He raised a hand and smacked Kirchoff across the face. Kirchoff grunted in pain, but he kept his mouth shut. Barry smacked him again, and again, and again until he couldn't keep his jaw clenched. He let his jaw go limp and his mouth dangle semi-open.

"There, isn't that better?" Barry grabbed Kirchoff by the hair again and shoved his face against his groin. Kirchoff did his best to keep his face away from Barry's crotch, but he was still too dazed to struggle for long. Eventually, Kirchoff gave up and accepted the inevitable.

"There we go," Barry said with a sigh. He was still holding on to Kirchoff's hair and was using it to move his head back and forth. Kirchoff was in a daze. Everything had happened so quickly it didn't seem real. He didn't know how long he was there, down on his knees sucking Barry off. After what seemed like an eternity Barry let out a groan and finished. Kirchoff gagged and choked as he came.

"C'mon, swallow it," Barry sneered. Kirchoff shuddered and swallowed. "There we go. Now it's Tim's turn."

Tim let out a wheezing laugh that sounded like a deflating balloon. Barry and Tim switched positions without much struggling on Kirchoff's part. Tim grabbed Kirchoff's hair the same way that Barry did, but Kirchoff could feel his hands trembling in excitement. He obviously didn't get laid often enough. Tim unzipped his pants and Kirchoff didn't even bother to struggle this time. He just opened his mouth and waited for the inevitable. Tim didn't take nearly as long as Barry did to do his business and he finished almost as soon as he started.

"Alright Tim, I think our work is done 'ere," Barry said.

_Thank god,_ Kirchoff thought.

"Just one thing left," Barry said in a quiet voice. Without warning, he swung his leg back and kicked Kirchoff in the ribs. Hard. Kirchoff felt the crunch of several of his ribs breaking and he fell to the ground breathless.

"That," he rasped. "Is for being such a whiny little bitch. C'mon Tim, let get outta 'ere."

The sound of their footsteps faded back down the alley and into the street. Kirchoff didn't bother to move. Instead he lay in the damp and the filth of the alleyway in pain. Since he had lost any sense of the passing of time, it felt like mere seconds when he heard another set of footsteps in the alley emanating from the direction Barry and Tim had left. Maybe Tim had come back for more since he barely got any action.

The person in the alley spoke, and it wasn't Tim. It was a new voice. A feminine voice.

"Hey, are you alright?"

* * *

As always, please review if you liked it and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions.


End file.
